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Public defense attorneys face a number of challenges — time demands, stress, limited resources, difficult clients and negative public perception, just to name a few.
Throw a mentally ill client into the mix and balancing the scales of justice becomes even more precarious.
Defense attorneys are bound by law to give their clients, including those who suffer from mental illness, the best possible representation. However, there is no universal training or standards when it comes to working with this client base. Some veteran lawyers acknowledge that formal training is important but say it doesn’t make or break an attorney’s ability to adequately represent a mentally ill client. But advocates for people with mental illness are not so sure.
Don Greenwood, a past president of the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said he’s not surprised that there isn’t much mental health training for defense attorneys. Still, he disagrees with the notion that formal training isn’t necessary to adequately represent a mentally ill client.
“How do people expect us to already know about mental illness? We have to learn. We have to go to classes. You don’t just suddenly acquire the knowledge. Unless the defenders have someone in their family, they don’t really know,” he said.
Christie Emrich, an attorney with Vancouver Defenders, knows all too well the challenges that come with defending a client who suffers from a mental illness.
“The deterioration of the human condition is just awful,” she said. “We see a lot of young clients who develop mental health issues as they enter adulthood. Mental illness can be a fluid thing. You can be healthy and happy and then hit a catalyst and spiral out of control.”
A crash course in roller derby
The journey began two months earlier at the Hazel Dell Parade of Bands. I was watching the parade when a derby skater with Botticelli’s Birth of Venus tattooed on her upper arm skated up to me.
“That looks like fun!” I said, pointing to her skates. “I’m a dragon boat paddler.”
“I used to paddle dragon boats, too!” she said. “You should try derby!”
She handed me a flier: “Fresh meat tryouts. Storm City Roller Girls.”
If the Minister of Mischief personally invited you to join in the “fresh meat” roller derby tryouts, wouldn’t you give it your best shot?
Still, I’d have to overcome a few minor obstacles.
First, I hadn’t roller skated in years. Decades, actually. Could I find my roller-skating mojo again — 50 years after adjusting my first metal skates with a key?
Second, was I too old to try out for roller derby? Since turning 50, I’ve fearlessly tried new adventures: dragon boat paddling, kayaking, skiing, zip lining, backpacking, archery, belly dancing and swing dancing. But roller derby? Really?
Third, was I tough enough to endure fresh meat tryouts? Although I’m a seasoned dragon boat paddler, other paddlers aren’t trying to beat me to a pulp.
Still, the Minister of Mischief assured me tryouts were noncontact. No one would touch me. How scary could it be?
I was determined to find out.
In the Port of Vancouver primary election, the number of candidates who say the port’s decision-making process and economic development priorities need to be reformed far outweigh those who say the port is largely on the right path.
That was clear during a jam-packed public forum — held Thursday at the Vancouver Community Library and sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Clark County — during which the seven candidates fielded a series of questions from a moderator.
Their answers varied in tone, emphasis and detail. Yet themes emerged. Candidates Nick Ande, Scott Dalesandro, Bob Durgan, Peter Harrison and Eric LaBrant all took positions that the port, which manages roughly 2,100 acres for industrial and marine development and is overseen by three elected commissioners, must move in a different direction.
By contrast, candidates Bill Hughes and Lisa Ross both made largely positive appraisals of the policies and leadership of the port, which handles a variety of cargoes, including wheat, Subaru vehicles, wind-energy components and scrap metal.
Thursday’s forum included the occasional zinger. Harrison said he’s attended 10 port commission meetings this year, while “most candidates attended just two.” “Simply put,” he said, “I show up, and the others do not.”
Addressing Harrison’s remarks, Durgan said he attended a five-hour port commission workshop last Monday and that “Peter didn’t go to that meeting.” The workshop involved interesting details about the port’s budget, Durgan said. “So I’ve got more questions than I have answers, and that’s why I want to run for commissioner.”
The candidates are running to succeed Commissioner Nancy Baker, who is not seeking re-election to a third, six-year term as the District 2 representative on the port’s three-member board. All seven will appear on the Aug. 4 primary ballot. The top two vote-getters from the primary will move to the Nov. 3 general election.
More news in politics
A fire that caused $750,000 damage to two homes in the Old Evergreen Highway neighborhood on Wednesday evening was likely caused by someone using a propane torch to burn weeds nearby.
Vancouver Lead Deputy Fire Marshal Chris Drone said the fire was accidentally set and was most likely a direct result of the weed burning, which was reported by eyewitnesses.
Burning vegetation in Vancouver is not allowed, whether there’s a burn ban or not, Drone said. He added that having an open flame goes against the burn bans currently in effect in Clark County.
A fire in arbor vitae between the houses, one at 8917 S.E. Porter Road and the other at 8912 S.E. Hillcrest Drive, was fueled by high winds and significantly damaged both homes. The fire was reported around 6:15 p.m. The wind blew embers south and ignited vegetation.
Earlier in the day, about 1.5 miles away, there was a fire on a bluff in the Evergreen Highlands neighborhood that spread uphill and damaged the outside of a home. Although the Vancouver Fire Marshal’s Office investigated the fire at 5727 Buena Vista Drive, no official cause has been determined, Drone said.
As of yet no citations have been issued. All three of the houses that burned are on a hillside overlooking the Columbia River and have a south-facing side that’s naturally going to be hotter.
Firefighting resources were tapped Wednesday, leading the Vancouver Fire Department to only respond to the most serious medical calls while American Medical Response dealt with the rest.
More fires in the news
