No enemies on the left, 'kay?

When the "Grand Jury Roadshow" comes to your town, it's nothing but self-defeating to go around disrespecting the public defenders. Mike Morris, a real lawyer and Seattle "public pretender," provides a useful corrective to our erstwhile activist allies:

First, full disclosure: I am a public defender in King County (Seattle), Washington...

What does concern me is when I run into people with apparently progressive values, who don't seem to recognize the importance of providing court appointed lawyers to people who can't afford a private attorney...

I'm not commenting to air a personal grievance, but because I think activists concerned about the court system in general -- and public defense in particular -- should be well-informed and consistent, and should advocate effectively for positive change...

Activists should think critically about public defense, and they should educate themselves and take an active --- but not counterproductively antagonistic -- role in their representation... Activists should consider that, if they remain poorly informed, and simply join the chorus of ignorant people who bash public defenders, they risk providing a further excuse to those in government who want to cut public defense budgets and force people without money to go to court without representation.

Nothing to add here but, "What he said!"