When I first applied for my internship at the Public Defender’s Office I had thought that the interaction among the jailers and other jail administrators would be the most relatable to the material discussed in class. Unexpectedly, I discovered that the interaction among the legal staff at the office was particularly relevant to my studies, epitomizing the interplay between the legal and public professions; all of the caveats, exceptions, and limitations that are associated with operating in the public sector melded with the intricacies and absurdities of criminal defense law. Elements of budgeting, ethics management, and personnel management were demonstrated in the office, ranging from the resignation of an attorney to the scarcity of essential office furniture and equipment. In addition to the administrative aspects of my work at the office, the opportunity to interview potential clients at the county jail helped expand my world view. In order to receive representation from the Publics Defender’s Office an individual must qualify as indigent. An indigency evaluation takes place at the county jail, often within 24 hours of an arrest, except in the cases of probation revocation or arrests occurring over the weekend. As an intern, I was expected to request and record personal/financial information in order to prepare the attorney’s for intake court and confirm the status of the potential client. The time I’ve spent interacting with these individuals will likely be my largest “take-away” from my experience at the PD’s office. Often times, interviewees are coping with withdrawal symptoms, the loss of their children, or severe mental/physical health conditions. In my time, the socioeconomic, racial, educational, and ethnic identit...
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...or team. I don’t mean to suggest that the intricacies of a copy machine should be taught in class, merely that it is beneficial to develop these skills while still in school. My knowledge of criminal procedure and some aspects of the legal profession were limited when I first began working at the Public Defender’s Office. Over time, I was able to develop a reasonable understanding of the functions and importance of the PD’s, including the general influence of the services they provide within the criminal justice system. I have not had the opportunity to take the American Legal Systems course offered at UW-L, but imagine that the course material would sufficiently cover most of the information I was able to glean from my time at the PD’s office. That being the case, I have no recommendations for future course development or the improvement of existing courses.
The picture this book paints would no doubt bother corrections professionals in prisons where prisoner-staff relationships and officer solidarity are more developed. In training, Conover is told that "the most important thing you can learn here is to communicate with inmates." And the Sing Sing staff who enjoy the most success and fulfillment i...
Newjack is Ted Conover’s personal memoir as a correctional officer in one of New York’s famous maximum security prisons: Sing Sing. The job of a correctional officer consists of long days locking and unlocking cells, moving prisoners to and from various locations while the prisoners beg, aggravate and abuse them. After a short time at the academy and a brief period of on-the-job training, Conover found himself working, often alone and always unarmed, in galleries housing sixty or more inmates. He heard of many stories that happen in prison. Stories include inmates beating inmates and burning their cell house, an inmate who was beaten by correctional officers after striking an officer in the head with a broom handle. Surprisingly, there are even some instances where there are voluntary sexual encounters between female staff and inmates. It is really a welcoming job for the “newjacks” and for the readers. On top of that, supervisors do not mentor or guide new officers and officers on one shift push problems off onto the next. Conover sees and realizes that correctional workers are very flexible characters, neither good nor bad, but must cope with stress and problems in a well-organized manner. As Conover points out, that at Sing Sing is against the possibility of staff getting to know prisoners. It is ridiculous to see that there are problems that prison administrators clearly could have solved but do not, instead, they care more about the inmates and officer’s relationship. In particular, enticements for better supervision and more support for effective staff are clearly needed.
Wright, J. (2012). Introduction to criminal justice. (p. 9.1). San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUCRJ201.12.1/sections/sec9.1
Understanding the organization of prisons and how the are can is a very complex mechanism. In “Stateville: The penitentiary in Mass Society”, Jacobs seeks to understand the organization in the Stateville prison system, one of the world’s toughest prisons. Giving the history of the prison does this and how things ran under different wardens, and how things were coupled throughout different organizations. When looking at these things Jacobs also points out issues in the prison and how they happened under what type of organization. By doing this, Stateville is easily relatable to understand leadership and authority.
This purpose of this paper is to interview a former Sergeant (Sgt) in the New Jersey police department, James Garber, to determine his thoughts on the current state of the criminal justice system. During this interview, Sgt Garber was asked several questions regard the current state of the criminal justice system; specifically, in what ways is the system working, in what ways is the system failing, and what direction he sees the justice system going. As part of this, he explains why he feels this way about the justice system, to include specific examples to support his belief. In addition to Sgt Garber’s opinion on these matters, this analysis includes real world examples that support the problems he identifies. Lastly, this paper
The way correction officers are treated in prison is dreadful. “A corrections officer was seriously burned Monday morning in an attack by an inmate at the Green Bay Correctional Institution” (Roberts, 2016). This topic interest me because most of my life my brother has described the working conditions of correction officers in prison. I remember him telling me how one officer had his finger bitten off by an inmate. Correction officers are the guards who work in prison to enforce prisoners, so that inmates do not find themselves constantly in trouble. In addition, the officers ensure inmates’ safety. Despite the fact that the officers want to secure the inmate 's safety, people are unaware of the hardships officers face every day. A great deal of the rigorous challenges guards go through are never mentioned on the news or make it to newspapers. Correction officers are rarely mentioned within society, even though they are a huge part of the law enforcement. There is a
During the several weeks I volunteered my time as an intern for the campaign of presently elected mayor Erin Stewart, I was not only thrilled to shadow her throughout various political fundraisers, I was indeed excited to help with so many forms of community outreach as well. As I conducted my work, making a plethora of phone calls and delivering campaign signs, I was able to learn many of the assumptions people had about my candidate. Usually, once a conversation would begin and I was beleaguered with questions regarding Stewart, I ended up having to explain in loquacious discourse of why Stewart, if elected, was the panacea for New Britain’s financial woes. As I had to do this on the spot, organizing my logic was somewhat difficult, but indeed I learned that a little prepping can be very useful. Quite often, usually I was able to sway potential voters on both sides of the aisle to consider team Stewart as their chosen candidates. As I applied myself and showed my dedication to the cause, I discovered how a politician should articulate and prepare for an election, how democratically...
Gaines, L.K., & Kaune, M., & Miller, R.L.(2000) Criminal Justice in Action. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
The criminal justice system is a male dominated occupation. For many years women have tried to break down the barrier and some have succeeded. But unlike men, women have to fight to be respected and to be heard. There has always been a gender bias. Women have decided to work outside the home and “move in” on careers that were specified as male professions. Females unfortunately have to deal with the sexist remarks, jokes, sexual harassment, and any other negativity that comes with being a woman in a man’s workforce. They get ridiculed for being mothers and wives. The research that was found while writing this paper will show some of the struggles of female attorneys, and police officers.
Unlike a menial position at your local Walmart, a position at your local prison is admirable and moderately difficult to land, hence one has to be prepared and qualified to take on the duties expected of them if they aspire to land a job as a correctional officer. To do so, I will attend the law enforcement program at BOCES, a vocational school connected to the school in which I attend. And post high school, I intend to apply to the State University of New York at Canton. While attending SUNY Canton, I’ll earn an AAS in criminal justice.
With the large expenses that come along with incarcerating delinquents, probation has become the oldest and most well-known alternative to incarceration among the juvenile population (NeMoyer et al, 2014). Juvenile probation officers provide a valuable service to communities by monitoring young probationers, offering advice and resources to offenders and their families, and alleviating the burden on crowded juvenile detention facilities (Probation Officer, 2015). While the main goal of a probation officer is to ensure that their clients do not partake in any more prohibited activities, the real effort of this profession is to encourage juveniles to lead productive and enjoyable lives. Juvenile probation officers use their skills as counselors as well as community resources to make positive changes in their client’s lives. With this said, a juvenile probation officer’s job is never dull. Each day comes with its own challenges, workload, and officers conducting various roles in their offender’s cases. Even though probation officers wear many titles, all of their responsibilities can be condensed into three categories: case work, resources brokerage, and law enforcement (Shearer,
"Prison Legal News - Legal articles, cases and court decisions." Prison Legal News - Legal articles, cases and court decisions. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 May 2014. .
This essay will discuss the role of the criminal justice professional in serving both individual and societal needs. It will identify and describe at least three individual needs and three societal needs, in addition to explaining the role of the criminal justice professional in serving each of these needs. Illustrative examples will be provided for support.
...s And Challenges For Prosecutors." Crime, Law & Social Change 56.1 (2011): 71-89. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
Throughout my one hundred and twenty-hour experience with the Gloversville Police Department, I learned many skills, values and the ways of this Police Department. Many of the calls and situations I went to often could relate to a certain theory that I learned in any of my law classes. I would recommend any student majoring in Criminal Justice to try to take an internship with a local law enforcement agency. I am currently signed up for the civil service test for Gloversville Police Department, If I do qualify for the Police I believe that this internship will give me a huge head start.