Representing ‘Those People,’ Young PD Seeks Justice

As a young assistant public defender, Tamara Rice Lave initially thought she could be something of a social worker, helping clients turn their lives around. Now she sees her job as more of a chess game, investigating a case and trying it in a manner that creates reasonable doubt.

Many of her clients in San Diego County, California, are accused of misdemeanors. A prosecutor sought to put a homeless client of hers in jail for 60 days for stealing a shopping cart, for instance, because the man had done so before and hadn't learned his lesson, Lave writes in an upcoming Newsweek article.

She is often asked "how can she represent "those people?" She tells of how she was asked this by a young, white and attractive client who didn't consider herself part of the same group, even though she pleaded guilty to stealing from a disabled patient, apparently while working as a nurse.

"Taken aback, I stared at her," Lave recounts. "But I am representing you!" she told the client.