Public defenders, he said, are confronted with the "unique problems of the poor" and face difficulties in establishing relationships with clients who have been distrustful of government their entire lives. That means, he said, listening to their problems and helping them. "These are people who have never had an advocate before," he said.
That view is not shared by all in the public defender's office.
"If you get sidetracked by worrying about a drug problem or mental health treatment, maybe you're not putting all your effort into the more important thing, making sure the person gets a fair trial," Rowland said.
Many public defenders took the job not to help a poor criminal defendant get on with his life, she said, but to protect his constitutional right to a fair trial.
McCurdy said in letters to Forster that public defenders should consult with other agencies, such as the departments of Juvenile Services and Health and Mental Hygiene, when problems with their clients arise, not provide services "in-house."
Apart from the philosophical differences between the two board members and Forster, there's also the matter of money. The public defender's office has a budget of about $88 million this year, down about $1 million from last year. Gov. Martin O'Malley has declined to comment on Forster's ouster, but said he spoke with her several times about her budget. All state agencies have been subject to budget cuts over the past year.
McCurdy and Margaret Mead, the other member who voted to fire Forster, said in a statement last week that "there are probably as many opinions as there are lawyers" on how the public defender's office should be run. But, "as a practical matter, any style of representation is subject to budgetary constraints."
The defender's office has increased by about 200 positions in the past five years. The additions were authorized by former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., whose wife was an Anne Arundel County public defender, after a national research group found that public defenders had too many cases to be effective.
In his July letter to Forster, McCurdy wrote that "the agency's rather staggering growth rate should be curbed."
Years before Ehrlich appointed him to the board, McCurdy, a Baltimore County defense attorney, complained to Harris that public defenders were "stealing" clients who should have to pay private attorneys.
