Ex-public defender hired as a prosecutor

Attorney fired the day after losing a bid for her boss’s seat

A former Broward assistant public defender fired a day after losing her campaign for her departing boss’s seat will now be sitting on the other side of the courtroom as a prosecutor.

Ruby Lenora Green ran for the seat being vacated by chief public defender Howard Finkelstein, but lost to Finkelstein’s chosen successor, Gordon Weekes.

Finkelstein was critical of Green’s campaign tactics and fired her the day after the Aug. 11 primary in a tersely worded email that concluded with “your termination is immediate.”

Now, Green will move to the courtroom table occupied by her one-time opponents, the prosecution.

The Broward State Attorney’s office confirmed it has hired Green, adding this isn’t the first time they’ve tried to hire her.

Green worked as a public defender in Broward for eight years and ran for the top job on a platform of justice, reducing recidivism and protecting the rights of indigent people in the criminal justice system.

Finklestein was critical of Green’s comments made during an interview with a podcast about leadership. In the podcast, Green said “we need change at the Broward County Public Defender’s Office because a Black face in a high place doesn’t always want to advance the race.”

Weekes, who is the assistant chief public defender, soundly defeated Green in the primary, 48% to 32.1%.

Then came Finkelstein’s termination email, which Green said was retribution for her running on a platform of change. “I was told not to run, I was told I couldn’t do it and I was told I was going to get fired,” she wrote in a Facebook post after her firing. “Nevertheless, I persisted because I know I am the change we seek. I know that there are so many things that happen in this office that are just down right WRONG, and I refused to sit back and let it happen … This is not going to stop me.”

Finkelstein said it wasn’t that Green ran for his job, but the way she campaigned that got her fired. “It was because of inappropriate, unprofessional and dishonest comments that she made about this office and its commitment to the underserved and people of color,” Finklestein told the Sun Sentinel after he fired Green.

Finkelstein said he fired Green after the election because he didn’t want to affect the outcome of the vote.

Now, Green says she is moving on and that her previous job will only be an advantage in her new role at the prosecution’s table.

“It is big change,” Green said on Tuesday. “Like everyone has been telling me, it really is an opportunity to effect change.

“The state attorney’s office has a lot of power when it comes to making sure we can get clients into programs, so I’m definitely going to be working with defense attorneys on that,” Green added. “I’m definitely going to try and work with people who are college age, want to go to school and turn their lives around.”