public pretender

English

Etymology

Coined by analogy with public defender, with the addition of pretender to suggest that the public defender is merely pretending to provide competent legal representation.

Noun

public pretender (plural public pretenders)

1. (slang, derogatory, originally prison slang) A public defender, viewed as inadequate.
   • 1991 February 8, William Raspberry, quoting Mansuel Lee Union [inmate], “In another war, a front line tale from a despairing drug abuser”, in Milton Hoffman, editor, The Standard-Star, page 16:

     They tell me I'm due a fair trial, but they give me a publie defender (or should I say public pretender?) that has four times his normal case load. So no matter how I feel or what I think, I'm forced to put all my faith in this public pretender and hope he hasn't sold me out too badly.

   • 2009, Howard Campbell, quoting Felipe [pseudonym], Drug War Zone: Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juárez, University of Texas Press, →ISBN, pages 114–115:

     Felipe defiantly describes what he saw in jail: "There were young guys... with 700-1,000 pounds [of marijuana]. My case, by comparison, was peanuts. It is all about money in El Paso—if you have the money, you get off; if you have a good lawyer, you get off. It's all about your lawyer. The people without money have to get a 'public pretender.'"

   • 2020 March 9, Gordon Smith, “Namaste” (between 08:48 and 08:55 from the start), in Gordon Smith, director, Better Call Saul, season 5, episode 4, spoken by Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), via AMC:

     Are you saying that you want a free lawyer? […] Without me, they're gonna lock you up and throw away the key. I'm sorry, did I say "five years"? You go ahead and play Russian roulette with a public pretender, you're gonna end up doing a decade in Los Lunas!