The attorneys at Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. with over 80% turnout and 98% in support voted to join ESC Local 20 in early 2021.
These 51 trial and appeals attorneys represent individuals charged in federal court who, like the vast majority of those ensnared in this country's criminal courts, are unable to afford lawyers. As federal public defenders working at the U.S./Mexico border, their job is to fight a system that disproportionately punishes vulnerable people of color. Many of their clients' only crime is crossing the border. This work has only become more difficult during the pandemic when many of our clients have been locked up in COVID-ravaged jails for months without access to trials.
ESC is proud to add this group to our growing legal services sector of the union.