Jobs You Can’t Afford – Public Defender

For my next installation in the ongoing Jobs You Can’t Afford series, I’m going to talk about Public Defenders. Public Defenders are government lawyers who work on behalf of people accused of crimes when those people cannot afford an attorney.  You know the line from the crime shows, “If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you”?  That’s these guys.

In this country, people accused of crimes have a constitutional right to an attorney so the job of Public Defender is essentially one of upholding the constitution.  Yet this important job is becoming more and more out of reach as tuition continues to outstrip salaries.