For those of you folks in Palo Alto today, you might want to take a moment to check out San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who is speaking at a Stanford panel entitled "Providing Indigent Criminal Defense in the Financial Meltdown." Adachi, who has been warring with Mayor Newsom to get more funding for the SFPD from city hall, charges the nation's local governments with responding to the recession by cutting public defense programs. He's also empowered by the fact that he'll be joined by other beleaguered PDs from all over the country.
From the SFGate item on the panel: "I was relieved to learn that I was not alone in fighting against budget cuts," Adachi said of Monday's event. "Basically, what we're seeing is an attack on the right to a lawyer around the country and it's not just isolated to San Francisco."
Adachi also invited sparring partner Newsom to the conference, according to SFGate. No word on whether or not Newsom will participate in the civil rights-off. An email to the mayor's office has gone unanswered as of the time this item was posted.
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