Norwood Nedom is the author of two anti-immigrant letters to the San Jose Mercury News. The letters are directed to legal immigration (and presumably illegal immigration).

Mr. Nedom was the Chief Assistant Public Defender for approximately 20 years of his 33 year career with the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office. The Chief Assistant Public Defender is the second in command, directly below the Public Defender.  

One letter, encaptioned Immigration and Growth, was written in May 2000. The other letter, encaptioned Get Courageous on Immigration, was written in August 2000.

A majority of Public Defender clients are ethnic minorities, a significant number of whom are immigrants or children of immigrants.

Apparently in accord with Mr. Nedom’s anti-immigrant philosophy, the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s office established the Defender of the Year Award in honor of Norwood Nedom in 1999, even though Mr. Nedom had not tried a case in over twenty years. According to the award, it is to be "bestowed annually on the attorney who best represents the ideals of this office in the diligent pursuit of justice."

You are invited to consider  responses by Jan Tucker and by Michael Cantrall (Executive Director of the California Public Defender's Association).  

We request that you share your thoughts on the appropriateness of Mr. Nedom’s anti-immigrant philosophy as a model of excellence within the Public Defender Office’s office, particularly for an office which generally represents the voiceless and the disenfranchised.  We ask that you communicate your views to Public Defender Jose Villarreal (who presides over the Norwood A. Nedom Defender of the Year Award), as well as to each member of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.