MU College Democrats discuss public defender system

MU graduate Julia Bonham stressed the lack of public defenders.

By Kaylen Ralph

Published Feb. 19, 2010

The MU College Democrats held its second meeting of the year Thursday during which the group discussed events for the rest of the semester and heard from two guest speakers.

President Amanda Shelton began the meeting by citing membership development as one of the key issues the College Democrats will be working on this semester.

"We're organizing our goals more clearly than we have in the past," Shelton said. "One issue that changes from semester to semester is how organized we are, how focused we are. And we want to be more focused this semester."

One way the club plans to streamline its goals is by focusing on campaign efforts for Kelly Schultz, Democratic candidate for the 21st House District. Schultz's campaign manager, Chris Girourard, spoke at the meeting on behalf of Schultz.

The campaign is planning an aggressive door-knocking initiative in the Columbia area, Girourard said. Club members in attendance began work for the campaign immediately by writing handwritten messages on door hangers.

"Kelly Schultz hopes to provide as many opportunities as possible for the Mizzou Young Democrats to get involved in all aspects of the campaign," Girourard said. "It is an education experience that will prove invaluable to anyone who wants to have a better understanding of local government and the democratic process."

Girourard also spoke about the benefits of participating in a smaller election, including the likelihood of receiving letters of recommendation and official titles from the candidates.

The second speaker at the meeting was Boone County public defender Julia Bonham. Bonham addressed what she called the "public defense crisis" in Missouri. Bonham, a 2007 graduate of the University of Missouri Law School, said working as a public defender is both overwhelming and exhilarating.

Bonham said the American Bar Association prescribes guidelines for how many cases on average public defenders should take each year. Bonham said the guideline is set at 100 cases per year, but in the past year she has had 848 cases. Bonham said she was not speaking in her professional capacity but from personal experience.

"Right now, we're not getting a lot of help, and we're struggling because people keep committing crimes and the prosecution keeps charging them," Bonham said.

She stressed the importance of having more public defenders in the field to deal with this "crisis."

"The sad part is that we turn people away every single day," she said. "Volunteering is a great thing, going to law school and learning to become a public defender is a great way because right now we're collapsing."

Events coming up for the College Democrats include a fundraiser for the Central Missouri Food Bank in Speaker's Circle on Monday through Wednesday of next week. The food drive will also include a bake sale, which members signed up to work for and to bake goods.

In order to increase membership in the club, Membership Director Eric Lefevre said the club plans on marketing its name more and hosting more social events. Past events included a State of the Union watch party.

"Basically getting our name out on campus, writing letters to the editor and press releases, hosting social events and hosting political actions events," Lefevre said.

On March 18, the club is co-sponsoring a mayoral candidate forum with the MU College Republicans and the Missouri Students Association.