Faced with two of his lawyers wanting his job, Howard Finkelstein has prohibited campaigning in the Public Defenders Office.

Finkelstein is retiring after the 2020 election.

Assistant Public Defenders Gordon Weekes and Ruby Green are running to replace him.

In a pointed memo to Weekes and Green last week, Finkelstein warned:

“This office must continue to keep focused on our clients. I will not allow it to turn into a political battlefield.”

He noted that his predecessor Public Defender Al Schreiber was “political and enlisted his employees to work for candidates and contribute to campaigns. When I took office, I felt very strongly that the Law Office of the Public Defender should not be a political machine and the employees should not feel compelled to participate in politics, other than exercising their constitutional right to vote….