Thank U Tedx and Thank U Aldan Great Job!

I think Aidan brings some good points. Public defenders can frankly only be trusted if you have federal criminal cases. State and Local PDs are overworked and underfunded. Leading to high turnover rates and ineffective assistance of counsel due to a heavy caseload. More funding should be granted.

I was an office manager at a public defender office in California. Let me just say the attorneys worked hard for the clients. Many an attorney was at the office at midnight when working on a trial. The attorneys in that office took the job seriously and gave their all. I have great respect for all public defenders.

wow ,that was amazing

I'm so very grateful that you are bringing this issue to light. Most people can not afford bail or a defense. Unfortunately dna is very fallible and subjective and crime labs have a financial interest in convictions not to mention the bias. You need to be able to have a expert of your own. You need to be able to investigate and have a competent attorney. People take pleas because they are poor and held in jail essentially kidnapped for years.

Injustice...Public defenders I know this well... March 20 2018 My nephew was arrested in Scotland county for assault serious injury and armed criminal action You guessed it... Memphis Missouri I attended every court date and traveled to Memphis every Thursday from Iowa for the 20 minutes he was allowed visits... He was attacked by a local man that admitted to walking across the street to confront my nephew in the early morning hours in a dark garage that my nephew was authorized to be in. This man attacked him...threw him to the ground and beat his head into the concrete floor proven in a two day trial in Knox county. He was found not guilty by 12 jurors beyond a reasonable doubt. Thanks to his public defender and another attorney that was added to prove self defense. Or should I say for the new prosecuting attorney to prove it wasn't self defense...she had represented the local man as his attorney prior... You see...the prosecuting attorney that filed charges against my nephew became judge January 1st 2019. He was arrested March 20 2018 and did not see his trial date til March of 2019. I have never in my life seen such obvious dishonesty by several public officials and I believe corrupt practices. A prosecuting attorney that played kick the can with continuances to get his trial past her January 1st new position of judge..Perjury on the stand by a police officer Victims compensation qualification By the alleged victim Yes right... He admitted to going to where my nephew was minding his own business to confront him. Needless to say he had meth and marijuana and alcohol in his system Proven in court in Scotland county. From the first court date that I talked to his public defender we did not see eye to eye. I gathered information sent dozens of emails to Anyone I thought would help Or could point me in the right direction.. I spent countless hours online trying to at least learn the basics of Missouri law...I emailed the attorney general.. No help...then Dozens of attorneys. They all wanted outrageous money up front. Honestly we felt stuck And this was serious.. Yes we experienced the public defenders lack of time and empty promises to meet with him or at least to inform him of the status of his case. I sent one email after another to his office with no response. This went on for months but I soon realized it was not a lack of compassion...It was an honest lack of time due to his client load I contacted Arch Defenders...Missouri highway patrol Innocence project. I did get responses back. I Contacted The attorney general's office..but as for concrete help.. none Until I saw a video that I believe Kicked his defense into high gear. Yes the head of Public Defenders in Missouri I emailed him two times...no response but to my surprise this very busy man personally called me from his car And we set a time to talk. I could not believe it. I knew exactly the circumstances you were talking about with the Governor being assigned to represent a man that could not afford an attorney. The same Governor that cut a huge amount of money allocated to the already busy public defenders in Missouri. I will admit my nephew's public defender was very good but seemed to be kept so busy sometimes coming to court and representing 5 to 6 people he had not yet met. I understand the struggle and something must be done. Innocent people are sitting in county jails in Missouri being offered plea deals knowing they have to take it or they will be waiting a long time to even get to talk to an attorney and when it does Happen...15 minutes here or there with months in between. It is not intentional on the public defenders part.. But my nephew was not offered a deal by the new prosecuting attorney until the Knox county judge highly recommended she did at pretrial No deal...he knew he was not responsible for the local man's attack and he spent a year behind bars knowing that fact I believe his public defender knew exactly what he needed to do and he proved it in the end. Sorry this was lengthy. The knox County Sentinal wrote a story about my nephew's not guilty verdict about a week after the trial. Echo Menges ....writer She was amazing The Memphis Democrat paper after I emailed several times asking when I would see an acknowledgement of his innocence finally wrote a front page article...editor Chris Finney..the same person that I believe influenced public opinion from day one with his words in print A year out of both of our lives To this day the local man has not been charged for the attack Not because my nephew didn't try to press charges..I was told it was up to the prosecuting attorney As to which cases she will prosecute or charge. You should of seen my Nephew's public defender at trial. He was amazing ...First criminal trial but you would never of known it. His statement to the jury In America We have the right to defend ourselves.... He is so right S. Bryant AUNT S Bryant Your words....Truth SO Much more to this .

Why are State Bars not being sued for negligence? Why aren't State, Federal, and local legislatures not being held liable for negligence? Each State Bar presents rules and ethics required of attorneys in their State. State Bars know how many cases a public defender can legitimately hold annually, but they are not fighting this discrepancy appropriately. Why is government not held accountable? Also, every public defender, along with their bosses, need to reject caseloads on legal grounds, instead of succumbing to the status quo and denying the problem exists out of fear of political retribution.

This young man is amazing....thoughtful, well-spoken, and articulate. He has a very bright future, regardless of what field he chooses.

@JohnDoe-xw6mg

2 жыл бұрын

I found him extremely arrogant. To hold himself out as a subject matter expert on this issue is hilarious. He hasn't even finished high school let alone: 1. Completed an undergraduate degree with a great GPA; 2. taking the LSAT and scoring well; 3.getting into law school; 4.passing his classes; 5.passing the bar;6. competing with hundreds in a highly rigorous/competitive process to be a PUB DEF, then finally 7. actually working as a PUB DEF for at least a decade without being burned out. Do all this first first. The kid has a good heart, and maybe he will become another Bryan Stevenson, but he has to do the work first.

@ironwrit

2 жыл бұрын

@@JohnDoe-xw6mg you sound a little bitter bud

The Prosecutor doesn't get 9% of that budget. The prosecutors get the majority of the police budget too.

He frames this issue somewhat incorrectly. It is not the quality of public defenders, it is the structure of the system and a myriad other issues. He oversimplifies a very complex issue and places a lot of blame on the attorneys. The attorneys who work in Public Defenders Office's are committed lawyers and civil servants.

@lunasea237

4 жыл бұрын

Jason Imler If you watched the whole thing, his point was that the problem is lack of funding and systemic inequity, not the attorneys. He’s actually pretty clear that it’s not the public defenders’ fault.

@jasonimler4017

4 жыл бұрын

@@lunasea237 I did watch the whole thing. He is careless with his descriptions and use of language. I stand by my comment.

@JohnDoe-xw6mg

2 жыл бұрын

@@jasonimler4017 I agree with you. And a lot of what he says is based on not being an attorney. e.g. he cites a statistic that PDs spend on avg 7 mins a case, but he doesn't realize that the majority of the cases don't involve trial and are resolved almost immediately. The statistic doesn't discriminate between misdemeanors and felonies, between petty crimes and capital charges. I'm sorry but this person is in high school and lecturing on matters prematurely. First get your undergraduate degree, then score well enough on the LSAT, then get admitted to law school, then pass your classes, then pass the bar, then compete with hundreds of new and experienced attorneys in a highly rigorous process to become a Pub Def (especially in big cities). Then after you have practiced at least 10 years and haven't burned out, then and only then, can you have the right to stand at a TED Talk and speak on the matter. Do the work first.

@chris5292

Жыл бұрын

The Public Defenders should be ashamed of themselves. They are the ones responsible for defending the accused, all they do is plea bargain their rights away, due to time and budget constraints. How can that be in anyway ethical.

A lot of what he says is based on not being an attorney. e.g. he cites a statistic that PDs spend on avg 7 mins a case, but he doesn't realize that the majority of the cases don't involve trial and are resolved almost immediately. The statistic doesn't discriminate between misdemeanors and felonies, between petty crimes and capital charges. I'm sorry but this person is in high school and lecturing on matters prematurely. First get your undergraduate degree, then score well enough on the LSAT, then get admitted to law school, then pass your classes, then pass the bar, then compete with hundreds of new and experienced attorneys in a highly rigorous process to become a Pub Def (especially in big cities). Then after you have practiced at least 10 years and haven't burned out, then and only then, can you have the right to stand at a TED Talk and speak on this matter. DO THE WORK FIRST.

The arrogance of a high school student lecturing about public defenders when he hasn't practiced a day in his life, hasn't finished college, law school, passed the bar ... My 11 year old has strong opinions about Legos, how do I get him on TED? He will be in for a surprise when he applies to become a public defender (assuming he actually passes the bar). It's one of the most competitive jobs and it will require rounds upon rounds of exams, legal hypos, etc., especially in the big cities. He'll be competiting with the best of the best, die hard social justice advocates from top schools wanting to make a difference.

@ironwrit

2 жыл бұрын

Your argument is ad hominem; his age or lack of experience and credentialing doesn’t make the fact that PD’s are funded far less than DA’s, in proportion, not true.