SAN JOSE — Damon Silver, a veteran South Bay lawyer who has headed the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Workplace for the previous yr on an interim foundation, was appointed this week because the everlasting chief public defender by the Board of Supervisors.
Beginning Monday, Silver will formally lead the company the place he has spent the previous three many years. He has served as a line-level lawyer, chief trial deputy and later as a high government underneath his predecessor Molly O’Neal, who was the county’s longest-serving public defender earlier than retiring a yr in the past and endorsed Silver to succeed her.
Silver, a 55-year-old North County resident, mentioned he was appreciative of the help from county management, including that his appointment preserves important continuity within the workplace that may assist them maximize their mission to assist susceptible and indigent folks disproportionately ensnared within the prison court docket system.
“The office has a long tradition of being very client-centered and focusing all decisions through the lens of what’s best for the community and the specific clients we serve,” Silver mentioned in an interview. “We spent generations building that office culture … and I am now the next recipient of that baton from Molly and her many years of leadership, to continue to advance those goals.”
Board of Supervisors President Otto Lee mentioned of Silver’s choice: “We are proud to see a leader with such deep institutional knowledge and community partnership rise to lead the public defender’s office.”
County Government James Williams, who beforehand served as County Counsel, mentioned Silver “will continue to uphold the dignity and rights of the clients it serves, while fostering trust and partnership with our diverse communities in Santa Clara County and leading transformation across our criminal justice system.”
Silver, who attended UC Davis for each his undergraduate and regulation levels, has been in Santa Clara County since 1998. In describing his authorized philosophy for his workplace, he recalled the late-1800s regulation icon Clara Foltz, the primary lady to observe regulation on the West Coast and who pioneered the idea of publicly funded prison protection.
“The legal system should not just be a sword, it should be a shield. And so in many ways I see us as playing that role of the shield in a balanced system,” he mentioned. “We’re uplifting the voices of the neighborhood, and most significantly, the neighborhood that’s impacted by the criminal-legal system.
“I mean not just serving clients on their individual criminal cases, but really looking at the reasons they are entangled in the system in the first place … so that we’re not only just representing them in their criminal case, but really thinking about how we help support them so that they don’t return to the system in the future.”
District Legal professional Jeff Rosen, Silver’s chief counterpart, congratulated him on his choice.
“In an adversarial system like we have in court, our two offices fight hard against each other, as the system is designed to have us do. I know though, that outside of the court, we can and should work together to make the criminal justice system the best and the fairest it can be for all,” Rosen mentioned in a press release. “I look forward to collaborating with Damon where we can collaborate. I also look forward to having disagreements that never lose sight of the respect we have for each other and for the justice system.”
O’Neal mentioned the workplace’s legacy is secure in her former No. 2’s palms.
“Damon will be, and honestly already is, an excellent chief public defender,” she mentioned. “He has an unparalleled work ethic, strong ties to the community and is a brilliant, strategic thinker. He understands the needs of the clients and works tirelessly to ensure their rights are protected and their voices heard.”
