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Lawmaker Wants Prosecutors, Public Defenders To Be Nonpartisan

Florida Channel
/
Florida Channel

Duval County Democrat Audrey Gibson is pushing a measure that would make state attorney and public defender non-partisan offices.  

The Jacksonville Senator says their primary concern should be justice—not politics.

“Justice is supposed to be blind and it should also be nonpartisan," Gibson says, "and so we should not have prosecutors and public defenders who are catering to a mindset of a party.”

Duval County came under harsh scrutiny after the Harvard Fair Punishment Project included it in a list of 16 outlier counties leading the country in death penalty prosecutions.  The county ousted former prosecutor Angela Corey last year.

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.