TV Justice

To the producers and writers of “L.A. Law”:

After watching the first two shows of the new season we felt compelled to respond to your offensive and insidious attempts to disparage public defenders.

In each “L.A. Flaw” episode the public defender was characterized as callous, uncaring and overworked, causing his client to be unjustly convicted of a crime. Your creation and support of the stereotype of a public defender as an incompetent attorney is a painful injustice to the many highly skilled, dedicated and compassionate lawyers in our office. While it may not make for good drama, real-life heroes are not always found in private law firms lusting after image, power, money and a Brooks Brothers suit.

It is time for your writers to set the record straight. In order to really get a handle on the truth, they might want to spend a few days in the trenches with some of the hard-working and diligent people you so easily malign.

Given the audience you reach and the obvious attempt at realism in your show, one would expect responsibility for honesty in your characterizations--especially when one of the themes of your show is justice.

K. CANNON, S. MINTZER

H. NAKANO, M. HIGASHI

P. SWENSON, R. KLEIN

E. GREENE

Deputy Public Defenders

Los Angeles County