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Public Defense

: Of a Public Defender's Life

Mr. September

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I know this is going to sound crazy, but a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle mentioned the San Francisco Public Defender publishing a Calendar featuring their attorney's and clients.

Well, that's different: A lot of unusual news releases and publications cross our desks every day, but this is a first: a 2009 calendar featuring lawyers and clients with the Public Defender's Office.
Don't get any ideas. It's perfectly respectable - in fact, it's downright earnest. Each month features a black-and-white photograph and a "core value" of the office.

Example: March features Deputy Public Defender Matthew Rosen, leather briefcase in hand, striding through the Hall of Justice after a sentencing. Above his photograph is "Excellence. We strive for personal and professional excellence. We recognize and reward exceptional performance."

The calendar also serves as the 2008 annual report, with statistics sprinkled throughout. The month of March again proves useful, telling us the office's felony unit handled 10,835 cases in 2008 and completed 64 jury trials with a 44 percent success rate...

Its a very cool idea that I think could even raise a few bucks for some cash strapped offices (I know there are plenty out there!). Obviously you're not going to be able to pay for a new employee or anything by selling a few calendars BUT I know a few offices where Public Defenders are forced to pay for office supplies and courtroom exhibits out of their OWN POCKETS!

I don't know, I just really like this calendar idea and I thought it was a creative way to make a little cash for our offices in these tough financial times...mostly because I would like to be in charge of the swimsuit portion of the calendar for our office...what? You knew it was coming!

In all seriousness, I don't think the San Francisco PD's office charges for their calendars and from looking at it, it doesn't seem like they are something that would generate a lot of interest from the general public BUT I do think that we need to find other methods of generating funds for our offices.
District Attorney offices seem to get a lot of federal and state funding from grants but are there any PD offices that have successfully applied for grants in the past?

Anyone know?

Full post as published by Of a Public Defender's Life on January 16, 2009 (boomark / email).