Character

Public Defenders

tenacious client-focused methodical resourceful

A compact, court‑appointed three-person defense team that specializes in urgent, high-stakes criminal advocacy. They prioritize their client's survival over procedural comfort, pushing institutional remedies to the limit and pivoting to political channels when courts close the door. Functioning as tightly coordinated advocates—P.D. 1/2/3—they rely on procedural exactness, personal networks, and relentless communication. In the current episode they stand in the Supreme Court as a stay is denied and an execution is scheduled, visibly anxious yet mobilizing every legal and extrajudicial avenue to avert finality.

4 appearances

Also known as: Public Defender, P.D. 1, P.D. 2, P.D. 3, the three public defenders, the public defenders (unnamed collective)

Public Defenders's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

4 moments

S1E14 · Take This Sabbath Day

Gavel Falls — Stay Denied; Execution Scheduled

Stunned and tense — professional composure strained by immediate awareness of finality; suppression of panic to plan immediate actions.

Seated before the bench, physically present and listening as the opinion is read; visibly the recipients of the denial, representing the condemned; their presence registers as anxious, stunned, and mobilizing …

View full event

S1E14 · Take This Sabbath Day

An Unexpected White House Line: Sam Seaborn

Panicked pragmatism: frayed but still methodical, anxiety channeled into immediate problem‑solving.

The three public defenders move together down the hallway, voice rising with urgent questions; they register Jerry's dismissal and pivot immediately to seek any White House contact who can help …

View full event

S1E14 · Take This Sabbath Day

Midnight Deadline and a Breach of Trust

Pressured and focused on last-ditch options; anxious about shrinking institutional remedies.

The Public Defenders collective figures as the origin of external pressure — one of their team contacted the rabbi and is portrayed as scrambling after courts close; they are the …

View full event

S1E14 · Take This Sabbath Day

Let the Next Guy's Problem — Leo Pushes Pragmatism, Bartlet Defers

Desperate and driven — willing to pursue extrajudicial avenues in a last-ditch effort to save their client.

Referenced by Toby as the instigator of the rabbinic outreach — the public defenders are portrayed as desperate, resourceful advocates who sought religious counsel when legal avenues were exhausted.

View full event