Stanford Masui, 28, has been hired as a Public Defender for the Big Island to replace John Burgess, who resigned to run for county prosecutor. Masui, a native of Honolulu, joins John Olson in the office in Hilo. Together, the two men will cover the public defender duties for the island. Masui is a graduate of the University of Hawaii with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. He received his law degree from Temple University School of Law and recently passed his Hawaii Bar examination. While in law school, Masui was a legal intern with the U.S. Department of Labor office in Philadelphia. After passing his bar this summer, Masui worked in Lt. Gov. Nelson Doi's mayoral campaign in Honolulu. He also worked briefly as a law clerk for the Department of Hawaii Home Lands. Masui said that while attending the University of Hawaii, he was what could be termed "a student activist." He says that the Public Defender's office is not designed as a vehicle for reform, but a public defender should be concerned about the entire criminal justice system. He said active reformists should become involved in political organizations or work as activists outside the system. But as an attorney Masui said he can work on legal reforms through organizations such as Nader's Raiders, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Bar Association. According to Masui, his primary job as a public defender is to be "a vigorous and aggressive advocate for my clients." But he said a criminal attorney also has to balance his client's interest with the interest of society as a whole. Because of the financial and manpower limits on the public defender's office, he said he must concentrate on his criminal cases rather than branching out to wide-range reforms in the criminal justice system. According to Masui, criminal attorneys must now work hard to win cases in the lower courts because the Nixon Supreme Court has rolled back on many of the Warren court decisions on rights of the defendant. On the use of the deferred acceptance of a guilty plea or DAG plea, Masui said that it can be used depending on the situation and the client. On plea bargaining, Masui said "I don't plea bargain away anyone's rights." He said plea bargaining has become "a way out" for overloaded courts. In plea bargaining, the attorneys often are acting as judges of cases, he added. "When an attorney has a good case, he should fight for it in court," Masui said.