Cast of Characters

I've come across quite the cast of characters while working at the DA's office this summer. It has been interesting to see how differently I have to communicate the same message to different people. Here's a list of a few people I've worked with so far.

Character: communication style required

1. Celebrity Hair Stylist victim/witness in a brutal battery: lots of reassuring/understanding language, emotional, repetitive, comforting, drama is expected
2. Police officer witnesses: jokes (usually at someone else' expense) are a good icebreaker, informal, profanity is common, repetitive
3. Investigators who gather our evidence: appreciative, flattering, ready to laugh at a crass joke
4. Secretary in our section: always start by asking about her son and end with a thank you
5. Judge, in court: formal, more concluding and less explaining
6. Judge, in chambers: pretense of informality but still extremely formal
7. Judge, in writing: get to the point quickly, cares less about case law and more about the code of criminal procedure
8. Supervising Attorney: never use more words than necessary, clarify instructions and reiterate your point of view
9. the 70 year old doorman to our building: be ready for advice about women and respond with "I hear ya"

Prior to writing this, I would have assumed that I pick up on these things because I studied the sociology of communication in undergrad. However, I realize that I learned a lot of this from my family. My grandmother taught me to be sweet and polite while my uncle taught me how to hide my true emotions. My dad gave me many life lessons about respecting my elders while hanging out with my older brother and his friends taught me to be one of the guys. Most importantly, my mom taught me that if you want anything from a mother, you have to ask her about children first.

Go Directly to Jail

You know that scene in all of the lawyer movies where one attorney scribbles notes on a sheet of paper and passes the paper to the other attorney?

That was me today. Except I'm not an attorney. Generally, my senior attorney does the talking while the junior attorney and I take notes. Today was a little different. The senior attorney was out of the courtroom dealing with a witness and the junior attorney was delivering the closing argument. I was taking notes and the junior attorney was forced to use my notes in his close. In fact, he followed my line of reasoning and we got the conviction on a pretty high level case of fraud.

I consider this my first legal victory. Technically, I didn't say a single word on the record. In my mind, however, I just won the biggest case of the year.

Brown v Plata and the Questions that Follow

Brown v. Plata and the Questions that Follow
On May 23rd the Supreme Court told us what we already know: the California prison system is broken. For at least 11 years, the state has operated at 200% of design capacity. The severe over-crowding places the inmates, the guards and the public at a high risk. This case is the culmination of a legal battle that began with another lawsuit in 1990 (Coleman v. Brown).
The Court is requiring California to release 46,000 prisoners in order to get down to 137.5% of design capacity. The Court noted that this is a last resort option, but that it is necessary in order to avoid violating prisoner’s 8th Amendment rights.
Before I get started with the questions, it is worth noting that the prisoners will not be released and free to roam the streets without penatly. Some non-violent offenders will receive early parole while many offenders will be moved from the state system to the county system.
This begs the question: Are we really fixing anything? Will the transfer to county prisons alleviate the strain on the state prisons? Or are we simply shifting the problem and spreading the over-crowding to affect counties, as well?
Further, how did things get so out of hand? Are we not paying enough in tax dollars in order to maintain the prison population? Is the state mismanaging the funds that it is given to maintain the prison system? Can we blame antiquated sentencing law for the over crowding? Can we blame systemic poverty and lack of employment and education on the over crowding?
On another note, are we affording too many rights to the prisoners? Are we allowing their right to avoid cruel and unusual punishment to impinge upon our expectation of safe streets and neighborhoods?
Last but not least, is this problem bigger than the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation?
I’m looking forward to see how this problem plays out over the next few years. I look forward to researching the topic and hopefully working in a field that will provide sustainable, effective solutions to the problem.