To: Santa Clara County
Elected Public Defender
Change the Public Defender from an appointed position to an elected position.
Why is this important?
Empower the Public Defender to speak out and to uphold the rights of everyone. To prevent the Public Defender from being subservient to the Board of Supervisors. To eliminate the "dump truck" reputation of Public Defenders. The DA is elected. Why not the Public Defender? It will put both on an equal level. Jeff Adachi is elected in San Francisco, and it works well.