Chaos on Public Defender Services Commission. Ugly accusations, shouting in executive session, ominous letters and cancelled meetings cause all but one member to resign.

An update on the astonishing events at the Public Defender Services Commission this week. All but one member of the commission have resigned. Former state Representative William Dyson, appointed by the House Minority Leader, is the only remaining member, Daily Ructions can report.

Exchanges between Chief Public Defender TaShun Bowden-Lewis and commission members have grown from acrimonious to belligerent. Two recent commission meetings, scheduled for March 7th and March 21st (a special meeting) were cancelled amid growing disputes between Bowden-Lewis and the commission that appointed her last year. The last time the commission met, it spent 2 1/2 hours in an executive session. Curiously, the commission voted to table the approval of its January 10th executive session minutes.

Bowden-Lewis, whose office did not return a call from Daily Ructions early Thursday, has been at odds with the commission over the exercise of its oversight authority. Questions about certain expenditures by the Office of the Chief Public Defender have not been happily received or promptly answered. Members who received a harsh letter from counsel for Bowden-Lewis resigned this week.

No one becomes a member of the Public Defender Services Commission, including judges and distinguished professionals who have devoted their careers to criminal justice, to gain an advantage in the Connecticut hackerama of political plums. These are serious people who want indigent criminal defendants to receive the legal services our system of justice guarantees them. For all but one member of the commission to resign and leave the system without supervision means a series of travesties preceded their leave-taking.

Published March 23, 2023.