Smart Talk: Training needed for public defenders?: A survivor of the Rwandan genocide

What to look for on Smart Talk Thursday, April 3, 2014:

Pennsylvania is the only state in the country that doesn’t provide funding to pay for training public defenders.

A proposal is before the legislature that would set aside $1 million for that purpose.

At a time when Pennsylvania could have a sizable budget deficit at the end of the fiscal year in June, some may ask “how can we afford it?”

Supporters of the proposal counter that it would save taxpayer money in the long run and point out how often criminal defendants appeal or appeals are upheld because the accused had an ineffective counsel or their attorney made mistakes.

Lisette McCormick, Executive Director of the Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Fairness appears on Smart Talk to explain.

Also appearing on the show is Dr. Joseph Sebarenzi, who survived the Rwandan Genocide.

During a three month period in 1994, between 500,000 and one million Rwandans were killed in tribal warfare. Most of Dr. Sebarenzi’s family didn’t survive.

Dr. Sebarenzi will speak Thursday night at Elizabethtown College before the film “Sometimes in April,” commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide.

The eventis being held in the Ebenshade Gibble Auditorium at 6 p.m.For more information, visit http://www.etown.edu/newsandevents/campus-calendar/index.aspx

Listen to the program:

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