The Power of One. Former public defenders human resources director alleges Chief Public Defender engaged in “bullying,” “continuous and inappropriate belittling,” “aggressive,” “rude” and “abusive behavior.” Fear stalks pubic defender offices.

Four members of the Public Defender Services Commission resigned before resolving a complaint from the agency’s former human resources complaint against Chief Public Defender TaShun Bowden-Lewis. Erin Ryan’s eight-page February 13th letter to the Commission reveals a poisonous atmosphere at the state agency that represents indigent criminal defendants. She describes instances of “bullying,” “continuous and inappropriate belittling.” “aggressive,” “rude” and “abusive behavior.”

Ryan’s letter alleges that Bowden-Lewis told her not to disclose to the Commission that a “senior attorney in the Division” was facing “a multi-day suspension following an investigation completed by the Judicial Branch….” Bowden-Lewis suggested that [Ryan would] be undermining her authority and would be insubordinate if I said anything to the Commission about this personnel matter.” Ryan wrote that Bowden-Lewis told her that if she did disclose the matter to the Commission at its meeting she would “deal with those consequences tomorrow.”

Ryan concluded that she understood a claim by Bowden-Lewis that Ryan believed a colleague but not her was “a suggestion that I am a racist.” Bowden-Lewis is Black. Ryan is White. Ryan replied that her comments had “nothing to do with believing her and that I would follow her directive, but that stylistically, I disagreed with the approach and would prefer to be more transparent.”

The Commission, according to Ryan, had not been informed of the disciplinary matter at the time she submitted her comprehensive complaint.

Ryan, who has left the agency, concluded with a warning. “A handful of the remaining veteran employees have spoken to me about their desire to leave the agency, and I fear how decimated offices will be if the remaining veteran staff are to leave. Morale is incredibly and dangerously low and people feel disillusioned; work performed by the employees of the Division is very difficult, and the current environment is only making the work more challenging, if not downright unbearable.”

Two of the four recent vacancies will be filled by judges, but not the other two. One of them ought to go to Ryan, who has demonstrated courage while others have indulged only in silence or cryptic explanations. This is what a member of the Commission, with its duty to oversee the operation of an important state agency, should be willing to state: “I felt it was my duty to bring these matters to the Commission’s attention, trusting they will be addressed and remediated.”

Ryan is one of two public defender employees to have filed formal complaints about Bowden-Lewis’s conduct. The thick atmosphere of fear will not be lifted until the vacancies on the Commission are filled with resolute members who will not buckle in the face of intimidation. Members who understand their duties and are committed to honoring them and the more that 400 employees of the agency who perform a vital service .

Published March 28, 2023.