Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Montco pays $310K to settle suit by ex-public defenders
PHILADELPHIA » Montgomery County has reached a $310,000 settlement in a federal lawsuit brought by two former officials of the county public defender’s office who claimed they were wrongfully fired “in retaliation” for filing an amicus brief in a case regarding the fairness of cash bail.
Dean M. Beer, the former chief public defender in the county, will receive $200,000, and Keisha Hudson, the former deputy chief public defender, will receive $110,000 under the recent settlement, Kelly Cofrancisco, director of communications for the county, confirmed on Tuesday.
Attempts to reach Patricia Pierce, of the Philadelphia law firm of Greenbelt, Pierce, Funt and Flores, which represented Beer, and David Rudovsky, of the Philadelphia law firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin, who represented Hudson, for comment about the settlement were unsuccessful on Tuesday.
Cofrancisco said county officials do not comment on personnel matters.
But in an emailed statement Cofranciso added, “It is our position that the systematic failures of cash bail practices in Montgomery County needed to be addressed. In fact, the cash bail system has been the number one criminal justice reform priority for this administration.”
“We have worked diligently with the courts, public defender and the district attorney since 2018 on an initiative to identify best practices to end the unjust practice of incarcerating individuals, a disproportionate number of whom are African American, simply because they cannot afford the bail that was set,” Cofrancisco added in the statement.
Cofrancisco said the county commissioners voted in 2019 to fund a newly created pretrial services division to end the cash bail system “as we know it.”
“The commissioners voted again in 2020 to fund 10 newly created positions in the 2021 budget to continue the implementation of this important reform as well,” Cofrancisco added. “Achieving this goal has been – and will continue to be – our highest criminal justice reform priority.”
Additionally, Cofrancisco said, the county engaged Temple University to research ways the county can improve the governance and operations of the public defender’s office.
A preliminary report, “Strengthening the Office of the Montco Public Defender” was released last month and officials of the Temple University Beasley School of Law’s Sheller Center for Social Justice held a virtual town hall to discuss key findings of the report and to gain feedback from the public.
The county had entered a $30,000 contract with the university in July 2020 for research and consulting services to review the existing public defender’s office.
“The commissioners are committed to taking action on the items under its purview once the report
is finalized,” Cofrancisco said.
In his federal lawsuit, Beer alleged he was wrongfully fired “in retaliation” for filing an amicus brief in a case regarding the fairness of cash bail.
In the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, Beer, of Berwyn, had asked a judge to restore him to the position of chief public defender with a contract stating that he may only be fired for “just cause.” The suit also sought compensatory damages for past and future financial loss, “emotional distress and reputational harm,” as well as punitive damages.
The suit alleged county officials violated Beer’s First Amendment rights and his right to independence under Pennsylvania law.
“Dean Beer was fired for taking aim at a bail system that routinely and unjustly penalizes poor and marginalized people of color,” Pierce alleged in the suit on behalf of Beer.
County commissioners Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr. and Joseph C. Gale and county Chief Operating Officer Lee Soltysiak were listed as defendants in the suit.
On Feb. 25, 2020, Beer and Hudson were let go from their posts during a shakeup that sent shockwaves throughout the courthouse.
The chief public defender and assistants are appointed by the county commissioners. County officials have not commented specifically about the dismissals, citing they are personnel matters.
But some, including the ACLU of Pennsylvania, questioned the timing of the firings pointing out they came after Beer and Hudson filed an amicus brief in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on behalf of the ACLU in a 2019 case regarding the fairness of cash bail.
Several days after the firings about 100 supporters of Beer and Hudson held a rally on the courthouse steps demanding they be re-instated.
The suit claimed Beer was fired for exposing the county’s “unlawful bail practices.” The amicus brief highlighted several alleged examples of how the county’s bail practices left defendants poorly represented, the suit maintained.
“Montgomery County’s bail practices are ‘a matter of public concern’ as they directly impact tens of thousands of Montgomery County residents annually,” the suit said. “(Beer) reported detailed violations to defendant Montgomery County’s unlawful bail policies and procedures.”
The suit alleged Beer was fired for exercising his First Amendment right to free speech.
Hudson filed a similar lawsuit against the county, separately.
The firings remained intact after a March 5, 2020, commissioners’ meeting where numerous advocates asked the commissioners to re-instate Beer and Hudson.
However, the commissioners, after listening to hours of comments from advocates and lawyers, said the county solicitor had been tasked “to start to look into options for making the office of the public defender, both on an interim and on a permanent basis, an independent office.”