Public Defender. Not exactly a dirty word, but it didn't have a positive connotation for me. When I watched Law & Order, I pictured myself presenting the state's case against a guilty defendant. The scene is completed with a distraught widow/parent and a defense attorney grasping at strings to get the perpetrator off.
I can't pinpoint the exact time I decided that being a PD would be a bad thing. It seems like the majority of tv shows and movies tell the story from the prosecution's point of view. And I remember hearing from my mom that a neighbor had been assigned to defend the crossbow rapist in Bowie back in 1994. I couldn't imagine defending someone who did such horrible things.
My opinion on defense has changed a lot in the last five months, and for a variety of reasons. I worked with an attorney on co-op who specialized in appellate delinquency cases. In non-legal speak, delinquency = criminal for kids and adjudicated delinquent = found guilty, convicted. In Mass., kids 16 and under can be adjudicated delinquent, and 17 year olds are automatically sent through the adult system. Citizens for Juvenile Justice is working to overturn that, considering 17 year olds aren't treated as adults in any other categories (voting, ability to contract, military, taxes). There's also a subset called Youthful Offenders, where 14-17 year olds who commit certain felonies are tried through the adult system. Appellate means at the appeals level, so there has already been an adjudication, conviction, or guilty plea.
The Children's Law Center of Mass. attorney is sharp-witted and didn't have a moment to waste on a juvenile justice system that had mistreated "her boys." She had a regular parade of teenage and twenty-something men coming in to her office, and she warned the rest of us to mind wearing certain gang colors. I didn't always agree with her impassioned diatribes against the system, but I definitely respect her commitment to zealous defense and her conviction to keep fighting each appellate battle. Because I liked her so much, it made me question my presumptions about defense.
The next step was applying for a summer co-op. My original plan was to go abroad, and I intentionally sat out of the November collection that the NUSL co-op office organizes. By January, it became clear that South Africa wasn't going to happen, and I decided to participate in the January collection. I was interested in getting some criminal experience, but the Suffolk County D.A.'s office had accepted applications in November. However, a number of positions were available with the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), who provide public defender services in Mass. I figured I would still learn the criminal process, and if I ended up on the D.A. side after graduation, it might help to have some insider knowledge about my opponents.
Alright, this is a long post. To Be Continued!
I can't pinpoint the exact time I decided that being a PD would be a bad thing. It seems like the majority of tv shows and movies tell the story from the prosecution's point of view. And I remember hearing from my mom that a neighbor had been assigned to defend the crossbow rapist in Bowie back in 1994. I couldn't imagine defending someone who did such horrible things.
My opinion on defense has changed a lot in the last five months, and for a variety of reasons. I worked with an attorney on co-op who specialized in appellate delinquency cases. In non-legal speak, delinquency = criminal for kids and adjudicated delinquent = found guilty, convicted. In Mass., kids 16 and under can be adjudicated delinquent, and 17 year olds are automatically sent through the adult system. Citizens for Juvenile Justice is working to overturn that, considering 17 year olds aren't treated as adults in any other categories (voting, ability to contract, military, taxes). There's also a subset called Youthful Offenders, where 14-17 year olds who commit certain felonies are tried through the adult system. Appellate means at the appeals level, so there has already been an adjudication, conviction, or guilty plea.
The Children's Law Center of Mass. attorney is sharp-witted and didn't have a moment to waste on a juvenile justice system that had mistreated "her boys." She had a regular parade of teenage and twenty-something men coming in to her office, and she warned the rest of us to mind wearing certain gang colors. I didn't always agree with her impassioned diatribes against the system, but I definitely respect her commitment to zealous defense and her conviction to keep fighting each appellate battle. Because I liked her so much, it made me question my presumptions about defense.
The next step was applying for a summer co-op. My original plan was to go abroad, and I intentionally sat out of the November collection that the NUSL co-op office organizes. By January, it became clear that South Africa wasn't going to happen, and I decided to participate in the January collection. I was interested in getting some criminal experience, but the Suffolk County D.A.'s office had accepted applications in November. However, a number of positions were available with the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), who provide public defender services in Mass. I figured I would still learn the criminal process, and if I ended up on the D.A. side after graduation, it might help to have some insider knowledge about my opponents.
Alright, this is a long post. To Be Continued!
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