Director Jonathan Rapping catalogued atrocities that take place in jurisdictions across the South, causing many of the returning Class to recall how far they had traveled over the past year. Rapping explained the im-portance of the Program to both teach these lawyers how to be better advocates for their clients in the short run, and to build a commu-nity of dedicated leaders who will spearhead reform efforts in the future. The awesome responsibility placed on the shoulders of this group could not have been clearer. The lawyers were told that the job would be challenging as resources are scarce and caseloads are high, While these lawyers would not be in a position to change these structural hurdles immedi-ately, they would be able to ensure that each of their clients receives a public defender who cares about them, treats them with dignity and respect, and

On a sweltering day

in Birmingham , Alabama a

group of 29 new public

defenders set on a course

to help reform the way

indigent defense is

practiced in the South. The

Southern Public Defender

Training Center’s Class of

2008 joined last year’s

Inaugural Class of 2007 in

its journey to become a

community of lawyers that

will change the standard of

representation provided

indigent defendants in the

region. The two groups met

to kick off the 2nd Annual

Summer Institute at the

Cumberland School of Law

at Samford University.

This year’s class included

defenders from 11 offices

across Georgia, Louisiana,

Mississippi, South Carolina,

and Tennessee. Partici-

pants came from law

schools all across the

country, hailing from both

big cities and small rural

towns. Several participants

were beginning their second

career. Some had one or

two years of public defender

experience while others

were fresh out of law

school. The diversity of the

group led to an exciting

initial training. As these

committed lawyers filed into

the banquet hall on July

31st, the first night of the

Program, they were both

anxious and excited. None

could appreciate the

intensity of the experience

they were about to share.

During the introduction to the Program, participants looked in awe as Executive

T H E F I G H T F O R I N D I G E N T D E F E N S E R E F O R M I N T H E S O U T H C O N T I N U E S . . .

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O C T O B E R 2 0 0 8

T H E S P D T C N E W S L E T T E R

fights for them against an unjust system. “You are a part of a mission to protect the neglected, the ignored, the underserved. It is your obligation—your duty— to speak for those who do not have the power to speak for themselves,” stated Rapping during his welcome speech. He went on to say that while they will not win every case, as long as they can look themselves in the mirror each day and know that they have provided every client with the kind of justice to which our Consti-tution pays lip service, they will be successful public defenders. The Class knew that they were going to be a part of something special— part of a movement that would change the course of history one courtroom at a time.

SPDTC Class of 2008

Because justice is not blind

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

Indeed it’s the only thing that every has.”—Margaret Mead

“I have always wanted to be a public

defender. It’s a little difficult to

accomplish this goal with heart but

not tools. Now I feel like I have the

tools.”

“The large group activities

were wonderful because they

helped us all get to know

each other.”

T H E T R A I N I N G E X P E R I E N C E

“[In order to be [an] effective public de-

fender, Gold Standard Training should be

a requirement. After this training, I will

strive to apply the techniques that I’ve

learned to every case. I will be a more

confident, competent lawyer after this

training.”

Page 2

T H E S P D T C N E W S L E T T E R

“Coming from a jurisdiction that provides limited train-

ing, the excellent faculty provided great tools to make

us more effective at what we do. The love and

respect that everyone we met has for the job has

positioned us to become lifetime public defenders.”

“When I finished high school I felt like I had accomplished

something. When I finished college I felt like I had

accomplished something. When I finished law school I felt

like I accomplished something. Now that I’ve finished the

first part of SPDTC I feel ready to accomplish

more.”

“This was a great program. Law school provided none of this.

The bar provided none of this. Our individual offices would if

they could but there is not time, no money and no one available.

I need [ed] this and I didn’t even know it, and it came at a

perfect time before a light case of burnout. left serious burn

scars.”

“The small groups

were my favorite

because hey really

allowed us to ensure

we were learning

everything correctly.”

“This program is...a

good measure of an

attorney’s endurance

and stamina to sustain

a long-term serious trial.

I [was] exhausted but

also exhilarated. My

mind and body [were]

greatly fatigued, but my

soul, my essence, my

purpose in practice and

life has [been] focused

and rejuvenated.”

“There is no other program like this one —to be effective attor-

neys, particularly as public defenders, we need to spend REAL

TIME on the essentials of trail practice—a boot camp like this

one—set up where our only responsibility is to learn, is the

ONLY WAY to gain these imperative skills in a meaningful

way.”

“The program is structured

wonderfully; even “seasoned”

public defenders would

benefit even to just revitalize

their spirit.”

“The hands-on

[workshops] and small

group setting[s] were a

perfect learning

environment.”

Birmingham Civil Rights

Museum Field Trip

S P E C I A L T H A N K S T O :

T H E S O U T H E R N C E N T E R F O R H U M A N R I G H T S

T H E F O R D F O U N D A T I O N

E Q U A L J U S T I C E W O R K S

O P E N S O C I E T Y I N S T I T U T E

Page 3 T H E S P D T C N E W S L E T T E R

SPDTC Scholarship Receipients Clockwise from top:

Rosharwin Williams (MS), Sunny Eaton (TN), Gian Barnett (MS), Jason

Chatagnier (LA), Jacinta Hall (MS) Insets: Genesis Draper (TN) and Joseph

Manuel (LA)

Faculty

Thanks to our 2008 Summer Institute Faculty that included forty current and former public defenders from across the country. This year’s faculty came from states as diverse as

Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington, DC.

Friends of SPDTC

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who donated to the Center. Your contributions allow us to continue to build a community of committed public defenders, eager to usher meaningful reform into the South, and to provide them with the training and support they need in order to confidently represent their clients.

2008 Scholarship Sponsors

William Barry Blair Brown David and Resa Eppler Mark and Hope Foster Jamie Gardner and Jonathan Stern Bernard Grimm Calvin Hawkins Mary Kennedy Gary Kohlman Judge Neal Kravitz James and Ann McComas Judge Robert Parker Michele Roberts Mark Rochon David Stern Elizabeth Taylor and David DeBruin

Sponsors

We would especially like to acknowledge our sponsors who contributed $1,000 to $5,000. In addition to the general support they provided, these generous donations allowed us to offer seven scholarships to energetic, young public defenders who otherwise would not have been able to join the Class of 2008. Speaking of how the SPDTC experience impacted the way he views his role as a public defender and the clients he serves, scholarship recipient Gian Barnett from Jackson, MS, summed up the two weeks in Birmingham simply as “truly transformative.” Reflecting upon her experience, Nashville, TN recipient Sunny Eaton described her first year as a public defender and feeling like she was “sinking in quicksand.” Eaton credits the

SPDTC for helping her to “find her voice” and give her “the confidence to be a better lawyer.” To sum up, she says “the two weeks were more valuable to me than I could have imagined.”

“[T]here are no words to explain what SPDTC did for me. I came there on fire and ready to learn, and ended up getting so much more than I bargained for. My mind hasn't stopped racing from all the information I received. I learned more about advocacy in those two weeks than I did all three years of law school and in two years of working. …All of my cases have been affected by this training.”

—Genesis Draper, Class 2008

O u r m i s s i o n i s t o b u i l d a c o m m u n i t y o f z e a l o u s , c o m m i t t e d p u b l i c d e f e n d e r s a n d t o r a i s e t h e s t a n d a r d o f r e p r e s e n t a t i o n

f o r i n d i g e n t d e f e n d a n t s i n t h e s o u t h e a s t e r n U n i t e d S t a t e s t h r o u g h t r a i n i n g p r o v i d e d t o a n d p a r t n e r s h i p s w i t h p u b l i c

d e f e n d e r o f f i c e s a c r o s s t h e r e g i o n .

Training

SPDTC offers a three-year training curriculum designed for public defenders with less than three years of

experience representing indigent defendants. This curriculum includes roughly 100 hours of instruction

during the first year and 16-20 hours of instruction each of the following two years. The Program is

designed to provide instruction and support to committed lawyers across the region in an effort to

improve the quality of representation being provided to indigent defendants today and to build the

community of future public defender leaders of tomorrow. The SPDTC is seeking to work with dedicated

public defenders who are already practicing in the South or committed individuals who would like to join

this effort. Where there is need, to the extent possible, we will work with enthusiastic applicants to

identify placements and secure funding. If you are interested in joining the SPDTC training as a new or

current public defender, please e-mail a statement of interest and resume to Ilham Askia, Operations

Director at ilham@bellsouth.net or contact her at (404) 688-1202 or (202) 486-1875.

Donations

Individual donors have been our lifeline. Thanks to donations we have been able to train and support 45 lawyers through our first two Classes. Donations help cover our training and operations costs, pay faculty expenses, and maintain a scholarship fund for applicants who otherwise would not be able to afford to participate. If you are interested in donating to the Southern Public Defender Training Center please make your checks payable to SPDTC. If you have questions about donations, please contact Ilham N. Askia, Operations Director at ilham@bellsouth.net or call (404) 688-1202 or (202) 486-1875.

H O W D O I G E T I N V O L V E D W I T H S P D T C ? SPDTC

If you would like to learn more about the Southern Public Defender Training Center please

visit our website at www.southerndefender.com.

“Before SPDTC, I often felt alone and isolated in my practice. When I left I knew that I was not alone. I now have a family of lawyers I can call on for advice and strength. We met as strangers and left strongly connected to one another.”

—Sunny Eaton, Class 2008

The Southern Public Defender

Training Center

83 Poplar Street, NW

Atlanta, GA 30303