Getting my Work on

As of 8:30 AM on Monday I will be officially employed. I'm working for a local public defender but I don't know whether to be excited or bummed. It will be nice to have a little more structure in my life and a feeling that I am accomplishing something, but it was REALLY nice to do the things I wanted on my own terms. I had a great little schedule worked out and I was doing the things that I wanted to do. Now recess is over. After my stint with the New Orleans public defender, I have a vague idea of what to expect, lots of motions to exclude and habeas corpus petitions. That's fine with me, I don't hate that kind of writing and research. But, again, part of me is a little uneasy with defending people (not ALL, obviously) who have committed crimes. I suppose it really comes down to the fact that EVERYONE gets a fair trial, whether they have money or not. By challenging evidence or conduct that we feel is egregious or downright unlawful we are giving the system legitimacy, because if we challenge everything and it all holds up, there can be no accusations of an unfair trial. I liken it to the magician who lets the audience test the sword he's about to use to cut his assistant in half. If the sword is real and the box is real, then those items cannot be the source of the "trick," as it were. What's funny about all this is that I hope to be a prosecutor once I graduate. I hope that when I go up against a public defender that he/she will be sure to keep me honest, so to speak, and not let any violation of rights go unchallenged.

[*note: after reading some interpretations of this post, I think I should clarify something. The quote: "What's funny about all this is that I hope to be a prosecutor once I graduate" really should read like this: "What's funny about all this is that I might get a job offer for a prosecutor, which I would gladly accept."]

On a lighter note, I spent pretty much all afternoon cleaning my apartment. You know that saying from high school, "it's easier to stay caught up than to play catch up"? That also applies to cleaning and laundry.