Kim Segal would like those old pants and shirts you no longer need

Kim Segal

Kim Segal was a producer for CNN for 25 years.

As I wrote last March, "despite the demands of a full time job in news, [Kim] managed to go to law school and earn a law degree...and then get a job with the Broward County Public Defender's office."

On her Facebook page, Kim often posts glimpses into her life as a Public Defender.

Over the weekend she posted this:

LIFE AS A PD: I stood in the clothes closet at the Public Defender’s office clueless. I am looking for an outfit for a client but I have no idea what size will fit him. His booking sheet says he is 5’9” and 202 pounds. After a few minutes of rooting through the clothes I realize that knowing his size won’t matter.

My client is incarcerated. He needs clothes for his trial, the day we will fight his possession of cannabis charge. My client doesn’t have any friends or family that can drop off clothes at the jail so I have to figure out a way to dress him for his day in court.

My last client who needed clothes was not in jail but he didn’t own anything suitable to wear in front of a jury. I ended up going to Goodwill to buy a few things that would fit him. I will never forget my client’s reaction after he put on the button up white polo shirt and the pair of nice khaki pants. He turned to me and told me how good he felt in the clothes. He wanted to keep them. I wanted to let him keep them. But other clients needed them and continuing to buy clothes would be too big of an expense for a Public Defender.

The problem with keeping the PD’s closet in stock is the clothes we give to our in custody clients. After we drop clothes off at the jail we rarely see them again. The client wears them to trial and after they either get released before signing the clothes back over to us or they are sent to do state time before the clothes are returned.

The PD’s clothes closet on this day is neat, someone had been in there lately and straightened it up. There was a decent selection of shirts but it’s the pants I had trouble finding. It turned out that not knowing my client’s pant size didn’t matter since there were only a couple pair of pants available. These pants were so old they didn’t have tags with sizes in them.

I am curious, what does your closet look like? I am sure it’s better than the one at the PD’s office. Are there any pants, suits or ties that spend more time on a hangers than on your body? Have things been in there so long that you are clueless about what still fits you?

Please, in the name of justice or in honor of spring cleaning, whatever the reason send those clothes my way and I promise they will be put to good use!

If you can help her out, get in touch with her on Facebook, or if you don't have Facebook, send me an email and I'll forward it to her.