adams-county

COMMENTARY

Public defenders should not get fired for doing their jobs | Opinion

BY: - March 1, 2020

On February 26, 2020, Montgomery County Chief Public Defender Dean Beer and Deputy Chief Public Defender Keisha Hudson were unceremoniously and unexpectedly fired. Their termination came on the heels of the two attorneys filing an amicus brief that decried the local practice of setting bail without considering defendants’ ability to pay for their release and without their attorneys present. The brief was mysteriously retracted eight days later.