There was a great documentary on PBS last night called "Presumed Guilty" about the San Francisco Public Defenders office. I think it was primarily made to give insight into the work of public defenders. They aren't just making sure drug addicts, criminals and social low-lifes don't go to jail. They are the most humanitarian cross-section of the court system. The documentary puts human faces, lives, and events on people that society is readily willing to throw away.

I used to think that there must be some moral wrangling within the PD's office regarding guilt or innocence. How do you morally (or effectively) defend someone when there's overwhelming evidence of guilt?

I still think that's valid, and it's an individual public defender's choice on how to pursue cases on those grounds. But much more importantly, the PD's office makes sure everyone not only gets their day in court and a fair trial, but that these human beings are treated humanely. Because no one else in the court/legal system is going to.

A nice subtext of the documentary addressed the corruption and cronyism of San Francisco political machines. The SF Public Defenders office is what it is today through the efforts of attorneys Jeff Brown and Jeff Adachi, the number one and two people in the office.

Last year, Jeff Brown resigned allowing his position to be appointed by the mayor of San Francisco. Jeff Adachi, a man of integrity who had earned the respect and reverence of the entire PD's office, was the logical choice to succeed as head of the office.

But! There was someone else who had aspirations for the job. Kimiko Burton, an inexperienced attorney who happened to be the daughter of John Burton, a strongarm of the Democratic Party Machine. John Burton is also close friends with corrupt fat-cat mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown, the epitome of political smugness and arrogance.

Willie Brown, without any consideration, not a thought of Jeff Adachi's 15 years of successful service, (smugly) appoints Kimiko Burton to head of the PD's office. And her first move was a suicidal move – she fired Jeff Adachi, making it clear that it was all politics, and she was part of the political machinery.

When her term as appointee ended, to keep her position, she would have to win in an election. Jeff Adachi ran against her. Kimiko Burton had big money behind her. Her campaign for Public Defender received probably the only endorsement ever from the Police Department. Police don't like public defenders because they undermine their work.

Jeff Adachi's campaign was grassroots without a lot of money. He soundly defeated Burton. It was a feel-good moment in SF politics.

If I had seen this documentary when I was in law school, I would have leaned towards going into public defense. And if I were to grow up and take life seriously, I would look seriously at trying to become a public defender. But I'm not an attorney, I really can't even be considered a lawyer, and realistically I don't even have the background for it. And I'm not about to grow up and take life seriously.

current soundtrack: Deadweight - "Stroking the Moon"