By Rachel Liang, Justice and Legal Thought
Every single day I came into work, I was surprised by the amount of trust they had in the interns and how much they relied on us to pursue evidence for them so they can build a viable defense.
This semester, I had the opportunity to work as an investigative intern at the Maryland Office of Public Defender in Prince George’s County Circuit Court. As an investigative intern, I was tasked with many different things. At first, I thought my main job would be copying or getting coffee, like in all the movies. I quickly realized, however, that I was given a lot more responsibilities than expected. On my second day, I was told to serve a subpoena to the Department of Child Protective Services. I was also trusted with other tasks such as, transcribing interview videos, visiting scenes of an arrest, and even interviewing witnesses. Every single day I came into work, I was surprised by the amount of trust they had in the interns and how much they relied on us to pursue evidence for them so they can build a viable defense.
The importance of my internship and the jobs of the attorneys I worked with was to give these juveniles, who are not as lucky as us, the opportunity to rehabilitate and reform.
Although I was usually driving around the county on my days of work, I was also able to witness a few trials, and this was when I realized how important my job and the attorney’s jobs were. I was assigned, mostly, to juvenile cases. For example, I had a case of vandalism, robbery, and even homicide. There was one case I watched where a juvenile was charged with damaging property. After a long trial, the judge found him not guilty and was able to relieve his family of any costs he had to pay to the victims. After the trial had ended, the juvenile came back into the court room, accompanied by a police officer, and wanted to share a letter he had written while he was in the detention center. He was able to express how hard his life was and the judge actually gave him a quick lecture of how he could make his life better. I was able to see firsthand, what a juvenile looked like when he wanted to improve his life and rehabilitate. The importance of my internship and the jobs of the attorneys I worked with was to give these juveniles, who are not as lucky as us, the opportunity to rehabilitate and reform.
The reason I clicked on this internship poster was because it sounding like an extremely interesting position. I think just the term "Investigative Intern" was really intriguing and seemed like she had a very entertaining experience. One think I learned is that interns are allowed to do some of the investigative work during an investigation. This is new to me because when I think of investigative work I tend to think about those police shows on TV. I think this poster definitely showed me the more serious side to this work. I think you did a great job of describing your experience and how it impacted others.
Hi Rachel,
Your internship is very interesting to me because I also am looking at an investigative intent opportunity. I think your project was especially interesting due to the fact that you had the opportunity to work with juveniles that were accused of some pretty serious crimes. I am glad to hear that through your internship, you were able to help in the justice process for young people who could not necessarily help themselves. I wonder what your assumptions and thoughts were about people accused of such crimes, and whether they deserved justice before your internship. Did they change after your experience and if so how?
Nice Work Rachel!
This project stood out to me because I too am interested in interning with a public defenders office in Maryland. Hearing about your experience and all the responsibilities and trust you were tasked with was really eye opening! Q: Did the workload ever become too much to manage? If so, how did you balance work, school, and a social life?
This project stood out to me because I have an interest in criminal law. I would like to practice criminal law in the future, especially working with the government instead of private firms. I learned that interns play a larger role in the work setting than one would have expected, and was excited to hear that you got to assist in collecting evidence for the Office of the Public Defender. My question is whether you preferred spending your work days in a courtroom setting or out working in the field?
This project stood out to me because I am very interested in criminal justice and especially in an internship that is right at College Park's home in Prince George's county. That is so interesting you were able to help serve along side the office and even interview witness and conduct investigative work. I think its very awesome you got to see first hand the works of a public defender and even got to sit in on their cases they were preparing for. A question I have for you is do you think the office is doing a good job in carrying out its mission of criminal justice to a crime filled Prince George's County.