KS: new p.d., with much to have to overcome

Interesting character study from the Wichita Eagle:

Single mother perseveres to earn law degree - grit and effort anchor her life

Latina Alston is not yet 30. She has three children... She raised the children in poverty all their lives. That's about to change. Latina's story goes beyond absent fathers, food stamps and welfare checks.

People at the Wichita Bar Association know that of their 1,175 members, only eight are African-American - the newest member being Latina. Earlier this month, as Sedgwick County's newest assistant public defender, she helped clear a Wichita man of charges that could have put him in prison for years...

The 180+ comments following the article are interesting, too, in a "what's the matter with Kansas?" sort of way.

Via Legal Blog Watch, with tut-tutting by Carolyn Elefant at no extra charge.