Last week, Orange County Supervisors unanimously voted to accept a $4 million state grant for the county's Public Defender's office. Generally this is something that happens that no one really gives a crap about. But this one made big news because Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer vehemently objected to it.
Why?
According to the Voice Of OC, the issue has:
"...created a debate about which local justice arm is truly under-resourced in a “post-conviction” California: The office that prosecutes you, or the office that defends you?
Spitzer argued the former. “What’s happening today is the legislature is committed to early release (from prisons). The Governor’s committed to closing prisons, and they’re funding public defenders across the state,” Spitzer told supervisors on Tuesday.
He said the county would need to increase his office’s funding in order to fight back against the public defender’s office, arguing that – with over 192 cases already under review for potential overturning – he couldn’t keep up without more attorneys."
The Public Defender's office obviously disagrees, saying the DA's budget is already twice the budget they have and the grant from the state is simply to help remedy that situation.
Bill talked to Todd this morning about it, check out the interview.