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In the noise of national news, you may have missed that Lake Charles, LA was devastated by Hurricane Laura. And the public defender office was destroyed. Records gone. Defenders now homeless. Scattered through the state. Literally looking for their clients. They need help. More:
Their plea: "In this case 'we have no office' is literally true. Something like 100,000 in furnishings, fixtures, computers, office supplies, files, & every thing you can imagine. Gone." There's a GoFundMe now set up to help impacted lawyers. https://www.gofundme.com/f/lacdl-hurricane-laura-recovery
This public defender office was a leader. When the pandemic began to rage in Louisiana, they were one of the first to seek humanitarian release for people caged pretrial over the strenuous objection of the DA. https://www.kplctv.com/2020/04/07/public-defenders-calcasieu-file-motion-release-more-inmates/
From Lake Charles defenders: "But the challenge is more than the trials, the litigation for effective counsel, & the daily work in a state that is a world leader for incarceration. This challenge was Hurricane Laura, & the 150 mile per hour winds that set an all time record."
"This challenge was the public defenders finding that their office was obliterated & wind & water to such an extreme extent that nothing could be salvaged." Please help now for outreach to clients, for startup money, & other urgent needs." https://www.gofundme.com/f/lacdl-hurricane-laura-recovery
