OAKLAND, Calif. — Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods said this week that the constitutional right to counsel is “effectively dead” if judges can dictate public defender caseloads and punish attorneys who refuse workloads they believe violate ethical and constitutional standards.
Woods, the first Black public defender in Alameda County history and a longtime criminal justice reform advocate, made the remarks while calling on public defenders, community members and allies to participate in a Day of Action for Public Defense on April 23, according to a public post.
The statement comes in direct response to San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harry Dorfman’s decision to hold San Francisco Chief Public Defender Mano Raju in contempt and fine him $26,000 — $1,000 for each of the 26 felony cases his office declined to accept — after Raju’s office said it lacked the staff to guarantee effective representation, as reported by KQED…