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.

Pronunciation

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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!