Program Information Website: http://www.cae-fpd.org/
Description:
Federal Defender’s Office – Mission and Objective
Members of the Federal Defender's Office share a commitment to excellence and a passion for justice in representing indigent people charged or involved with criminal cases in United States District Court. We provide quality legal representation and advice to individuals financially unable to employ counsel in a myriad of federal criminal cases and related matters in the federal courts. The wide range of cases we handle include felonies, misdemeanors, appeals, non-capital habeas matters, and capital habeas matters. We advocate for our clients – we want our legal system to be fair to all. Our mission is to exceed the expectations of our clients every day by providing the highest caliber of legal counsel and advice.
As public defenders, we try to achieve the best possible outcomes for clients, their families, and their communities. This combines zealous legal advocacy with an understanding that for many of our clients the criminal case adds to many other issues that challenge them. Accordingly, we also focus on collateral issues – such as unstable housing, lack of health care, difficult family situations, mental illness, poverty, unemployment, immigration concerns, and substance addiction – that may need to be addressed in conjunction with their criminal case. Often these issues have driven our clients into the criminal justice system and must be resolved to truly keep them out in the future.
Accordingly, we have social workers in both our Sacramento and Fresno offices who counsel clients and aid them in addressing these issues. Our clients live throughout the Central Valley, in cities, towns, and rural areas. Our clients speak dozens of languages and come from diverse communities. Their social support needs are as unique as their backgrounds. Each case is a new opportunity for our social workers to learn about services available and to connect the client with appropriate support in their communities. By helping clients with their social support needs, we hope to enable the best possible resolution of their criminal justice case. We also cooperate with the Court, the Pretrial Services Office, and the Probation Office in trying to help our clients fill any gap in services that might create recidivism risk.
Parking will be an additional cost.