L.A. County’s public defender quietly retires, praising staff as ‘foot soldiers of the Constitution’
Ronald L. Brown, a longtime attorney who led the Los Angeles County public defender’s office for five years, has quietly retired.
Brown submitted a letter notifying the Board of Supervisors in November about his decision to step down, effective Dec. 31. As public defender, Brown ran an agency that employs more than 700 defense attorneys who represent indigent defendants in criminal court.
“I have worked for this county for over 35 years and I can state unequivocally that this is the best job I have ever had,” he said in his letter.
Until the Board of Supervisors appoints a successor, the office is being run by Chief Deputy Public Defender Kelly Emling, according to a spokeswoman for the department.
Appointed in 2011 by the Board of Supervisors, Brown became the first African American to hold the public defender post. He succeeded Michael P. Judge, who retired after 16 years in the position.
Brown’s retirement was first reported by the Metropolitan News-Enterprise, a daily legal newspaper that described him as “not a well-known figure within the legal community, seldom attending bar meetings or making speeches.”
In an e-mail, Brown disputed that characterization, saying he represented the public defender’s office at law schools, churches and in testimony before lawmakers in the state Assembly and Senate.
One of six children, Brown was raised in South Los Angeles and has said his family was on welfare when he was child. He studied history as an undergraduate at USC and attended UCLA School of Law before joining the public defender’s office in 1981.
Brown said he expected to miss working with those in the criminal justice system, especially staff at the public defender’s office.
“They work tirelessly and often without public praise or understanding of the difficult job of being the foot soldiers of the Constitution,” Brown said.
Twitter: @MattHjourno
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