Today's "Pissed Off" Moment

*slide soapbox out from under my desk and stands atop*

 

     First of all, let me just say that I am a public defender. While I understand that not all of my clients are innocent of whatever they are accused of doing, it is my job and my DUTY as their attorney to represent them zealously and to the best of my ability. When I represent a client, I'm not just trying to "get them off", I am trying to get them the disposition that best serves them and the interests of justice at the same time. It's not just about getting their case over with or getting one more file off of my desk. It's about serving the needs of my client in whatever way possible just as the DA purports to serve the needs of "The People" in penalizing my client for what he or she may or may not have actually done.

     That being said, jail is not the answer to every damn problem. When I see a client who has a pattern of behavior that suggests a psychological, substance abuse or other such problem, I cannot just stand by while the DA offers them jail time on a guilty plea, and acts as if he's doing them a favor because it's only 15 or 30 days and "they would get up to a year if they went to trial". Thirty days sitting in a cell is not going to rehabilitate someone with a mental illness. Thirty days sitting in a cell is not going to make a drug addict magically free of his addiction. All thirty days in jail will do is keep my client busy and yet unproductive for thirty days on the tax payer's dime when in many cases they'd be better served by some type of services or program. And does the DA care? Highly unlikely since that plea to thirty days in jail gets another case off of his desk.  I can't just accept that, and quite frankly, it pisses me off.

     I had a phone conference with a DA today about my client "Joyce" who was arrested and charged with assaulting and endangering the welfare her 3 year old daughter by spanking her. Joyce is no saint, she has a number of convictions for drug possession before 2000 and she's done several months in jail on those crimes. By the grace of God, she seems to have overcome her addiction, but her most recent contact was in the early 2000s when she was found guilty of endangering the welfare of her older child. The criminal court, family court and ACS systems have all been involved, and now on her current case, she finds herself sitting in jail with a ten month sentence hanging over her head. Joyce calls me everyday asking me if the judge might let her out of jail and allow her to do parenting skills and counseling programs. She's BEGGING for these programs and wants to eventually be able to reunite with her children who are now in foster care. She does not want to sit in jail (no one does really) if she could be getting the help that she needs to be a better parent on the outside.

     So I explain all of this to the DA, and for as many reasons as I give him why Joyce should be offered a plea with a program instead of jail time, he gives me a reason why she should stay in Rikers for another 6 months. In actuality, not only were his arguments not very good, they all gave strength to MY side. Him:  "She has numerous drug convictions." Right, because up until 2000, she had a drug problem which she was able to overcome with *surprise* a drug program. Before the program, she was in and out of jail, which didn't help anything. Him: "Her last conviction was for endangering the welfare of her other child and she did 3 months in jail for that and lost her child." Uh huh, which clearly shows that jail didn't serve her because she's back in the same position right now. What would serve her is if she can go somewhere and learn to be a better parent and caregiver to her children, who she loves and wants to reunite with down the road. She understands it is not a simple, easy or quick process, but it is something that she absolutely, unequivocally wants to do.

     The penal system is supposed to be a correctional and disciplinary construct, aimed more at rehabilitation than punishment (correct me if I'm wrong). Why then are the rehabilitative resources being withheld in favor of useless incarceration that will turn out defendants who likely will know no better than when they went in? Why do these resources even exist if the very people who need them are being denied access because of their past behavior that directly shows that they need these resources? I bet if I walked into a center and said "I want to learn how to be a good parent, sign me up for something!" and I don't even have a child, they would fall over themselves to get me enrolled. Yet there are countless children who are already living and being shuffled from foster home to foster home because mommy/daddy don't know how to take care of them and no one is willing to teach them. Something about that doesn't seem at all justice-like.

     Maybe the judge will see my point of view. I'll make sure to take my soapbox with me on Joyce's next court date.