An article in Friday’s New York Times attempts to humanize the widespread problem of inadequate public defender programs in our nation’s criminal courts. Author William Glaberson took a closer look at the characters behind a recent story, about a class action suit in New York that challenges the alleged problems with that state’s defenders.
The story of this one defendant and her public defender, assembled through interviews and court records, is about a woman who was barely making it before the legal system helped shove her off track.
And it is also about a small-town lawyer and part-time public servant sinking in personal and professional quicksand that few people knew about when he showed up to represent Kimberly Hurell-Harring. Least of all her.
It’s a good story. In the case of the public defender, Patrick E. Barber, I understand from the article that his “personal and professional quicksand” had less to do with the generally-enormous caseload that most defenders deal with, and more to do with his struggles with mental health. It’s a struggle that many lawyers battle–not just overworked criminal lawyers.
The Right to Counsel – A Woman Becomes a Test Case – NYTimes.com.
Original Story: Key New York Suit Calls Public Defender Programs Inadequate
