Ricardo D. García

Ricardo D. García serves as the Los Angeles County Public Defender, the first and largest public defender agency in the United States. He received his Juris Doctorate in 1995 from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, and his Bachelor of Art in Politics in 1991 from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

García started his legal career in 1995 with the San Diego Public Defender’s Office. In 1998, he was recruited to the Alternate Public Defender’s Office as the youngest attorney in that office. He has handled several high-profile cases in the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office, including the longest and most complicated death penalty trial in state history, and was awarded Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Criminal Defense Association of San Diego.

In addition to his work in the courtroom, García served as an adjunct professor at California Western School of Law and as the Criminal Justice Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.  He serves as the first Latinx Public Defender in Los Angeles County history and was recently awarded the Hispanic Heritage Award by the Honorable Supervisor Hilda Solis and the Leadership Award from the Los Angeles County Hispanic Managers Association.

Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

This project was made possible with support from Chapman University and The California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library.

Guest: Ricardo D. García
Host: Jon-Barrett Ingels
Produced by: Past Forward
Date recorded: February 19, 2025

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