When Victor Bradley started his career as a public defender in 1975, he wondered whether he would like the work.
Soon into starting the job, however, Bradley realized he really liked it.
“If you really think about it, the people who keep the law fair in the country are the public defenders,” said Bradley, some 40 years later serving as St. Charles Parish’s District Defender supervisor in Norco. “They make sure that your rights are protected. Making sure everything is done properly … that protects your freedom. That’s a hard sell to people when they see all the crime, but when they have someone in their family that gets arrested that’s when they understand … when they can’t afford a lawyer to have someone to stand up for their cause.”
Bradley, who also worked as a parish deputy chief, is equally appreciative his fellow public defenders also agree with justice and mercy, as well as them working in a system that he says is working well.
“We have some real good young lawyers who get upset when they see people being treated other than what they think is fair,” he said. “They are in for protecting the rights of these people.”
While public defenders throughout the state contend with heavy caseloads, lower pay and less resources, St. Charles Parish has the resources to do the job well and is known for it.
In February, Bradley’s office hired a social worker part-time to assist on juvenile cases, which Bradley welcomed as an opportunity to possibly reform, rather than just warehouse, children.
“It’s just the beginning for public defense,” he said. “We have intimate contact with these people and are expanding into all things by helping them not get into these problems again,” he said. “A lot of them have mental and emotional problems, and a social worker can offer recommendations other than jails.”
The move focuses on Bradley’s firm belief that if these children can be reached and figured out young that the state may not have to help them the rest of their lives. It goes along with something he heard from a Milwaukee sheriff who once said it’s time to stop worrying about the guns and start changing the “hood.”
Again, reflecting on justice with mercy, he is concerned about generations lost.
“It’s like a tide and it keeps coming,” Bradley said of the parish’s good work in controlling crime yet being neighbored by other parishes contending with high levels of crime spilling over into St. Charles Parish. “The real problem is getting these youngsters and getting them early enough to turn them off a life of crime and lots of the time to get them into job training and dealing with emotional problems.”
With more than 40 years experience, he has readily recognized and welcomed the arrival of the holistic way in public defense.
“Eventually, that’s the way of working this problem and preventing having to put so many in jail,” Bradley said.Louisiana has more people in jail than anywhere in the country, which he questioned is working.
The holistic approach means taking the person and trying to figure out how to help him or her, not just locking them away, he said. Basically, it’s less prosecution and more intervention, which he agreed is what most of these children need and worth defending.
“It’s like going to war everyday when you go to court and it’s something I’ve enjoyed,” said Bradley, who is more an administrator now. But he is passing on his experience to 10 lawyers and the advice is standard with him: “Be aggressive. It’s how you get to the truth. Don’t take what they tell you without trying to get it several different ways. Sometimes you have to ask the same questions 10 times. Protect the rights of your client.”
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