What is the Southern Public Defender Training Center?
The Southern Public Defender Training Center (SPDTC) is an organization committed to providing training to new public defenders throughout the South. SPDTC offers a three-year training curriculum designed for public defenders with less than three years of experience representing indigent defendants. This curriculum includes roughly 100 hours of instruction during the first year and 16-20 hours of instruction the following two years.
What else should I know?
The SPDTC is designed to fill a void in training currently available to young public defenders. It takes into consideration a big-picture view of what public defenders need to better represent their clients. Rather than being limited to trial skills or discrete legal topics, the SPDTC offers a comprehensive curriculum designed specifically for public defenders. Training is designed to be interactive, making use of exercises requiring role play and simulation. With an average student to faculty member ratio of three to one, participants receive an extraordinary amount of individual attention in small group settings. The SPDTC offers a faculty of both current and former public defenders from around the country. These lawyers are all committed to the improvement of indigent defense representation and have been responsible for raising the standard of practice in jurisdictions nationwide.
About the Executive Director
Jonathan Rapping is the Executive Director of the SPDTC. Mr. Rapping is on the faculty of the John Marshall Law School in Atlanta, GA, where he teaches criminal law and criminal procedure. Mr. Rapping is the former Training Director of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, an office nationally known for its training program. Following his tenure at PDS, in 2004 Mr. Rapping became the first Training Director of Georgia’s new state-wide public defender system. In that capacity he was responsible for designing training programs for both legal and non-legal staff statewide. Mr. Rapping then became the Director of Training and Recruitment for the Orleans Public Defenders, where he was integral in the efforts to rebuild the public defender system in post-Katrina New Orleans. In recognition of his work in New Orleans, he was a co-recipient of the prestigious Lincoln Leadership Award, given by Kentucky’s Department of Public Advocacy to honor leadership in national efforts to improve indigent defense. Mr. Rapping has trained public defenders all over the country. Mr. Rapping was awarded a Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship to develop the SPDTC.
