Shepherd Internship
Erin Walters
The Public Defender Service for the
District of Columbia (PDS)
• Mission: The Public Defender Service for
the District of Columbia (PDS) provides
and promotes quality legal
representation to indigent adults and
children facing a loss of liberty in the
District of Columbia and thereby
protects society's interest in the fair
administration of justice.
• Community Defender Division (CDD):
•
Juvenile Services Program (JSP)
•
Community Reentry Program (CRP)
• Institutional Services Program (ISP)
Accomplishments of PDS
• Regarded as one of the best public
defender offices in the country
• Represents up to 60 percent of individuals
determined to be unable to obtain
adequate legal representation in DC
•
Other 40 percent are represented by private
attorneys pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act (CJA)
• Consists of seven (7) legal services divisions
to represent clients in as complete a way as
possible
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Trial
Appeals
Mental Health
Special Litigation
Parole
Community Defender
Civil Legal Services
Institutional Services Program (ISP)
• Serves as the PDS liaison to individuals convicted of DC Code
offenses and held in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities
• Provides information to assist these individuals and monitor their
conditions of incarceration
• Consists of two attorneys, Keisha Robinson and Almo Carter, and
shares one investigator—Eddy McDermott—with the rest of CDD
Responsibilities/My Accomplishments
 Worked primarily under both attorneys in ISP, and with the ISP law clerk
 Answered letters from currently and formerly incarcerated individuals
regarding any issues or questions they had about incarceration
 Interviewed clients in the Central Detention Facility (DC Jail) in
preparation for Disciplinary Hearings within the facility
 Interviewed currently and formerly incarcerated men in regard to
conditions of confinement





Recreation
Medical Services
Food Services
Physical Abuse
Etc…
 Drafted a Report outlining findings re conditions of confinement
 When finished, it will be presented to the Warden
A Typical Day in ISP
• 9:30 am Arrive at the office and • 2:00-3:00 pm Watch Jail Calls
discuss work to be done for the
day
for a case represented by a lawyer
at the main office
• 10:00 am-1:00 pm Interview • 3:00-4:30 pm Write memos for
individuals at the Jail
• 1:00-2:00 pm Answer letters
from clients and organize box of
letters to be opened
the clients spoken to that day
• 4:30 pm Send daily report to all
in the office and go home
 When free, we court watched
Challenges
 Bureaucracy
 Getting information for cases was often difficult
 PDS and the “government” (police officers, the DC Jail, and prosecution)
have an adversarial relationship
 Tense relationship between the DC Jail and my partner and I as a result
of our investigation
 Progress was slow
 Records can take weeks to obtain
 Most cases (with the exception of juvenile cases) take months from start
to finish
 Thrown into the mix feet first
 The Criminal Law Internship Program (CLIP) training the other three (3
Shepherd Interns and I completed proved to be largely irrelevant to our
work in CDD; the training was specific to the Trial Division
 My partner and I were given a lot of freedom and little direction
throughout our internship
My SSLP, Summer 2013
The Share Foundation for the
Handicapped (Sharing Meadows)
• Rolling Prairie, IN
• Summer Camp for adults with
developmental and intellectual
disabilities/full-time residency for
other-abled “villagers” who live in
community with “stewards”
SSLP vs. Shepherd Internship
Sharing Meadows
PDS
 Lived in the camp dorms with
my fellow counselors along with
the campers during the week
 Lived on Catholic University of
America campus with the other
13 Shepherd interns in DC
 Completed weekly readings
and journals, and wrote a paper
at the end of the experience
 Lived under a $14 a day
budget, which covered food
and transportation
 Worked with adults with
disabilities (ages 18-78)
 Worked with incarcerated
individuals (ages 19-60)
 Rural setting (Rolling Prairie, IN)
 Urban setting (Washington, DC)
Understanding Poverty
• Sharing Meadows
•
Different from most SSLPs, as this was a disability SSLP
•
Campers and villagers were not necessarily financially poor
•
I learned a lot about love during my time at Share, so it was
fruitful despite not placing an emphasis on economic poverty
• PDS
•
All clients of PDS are indigent; however, I spoke with many nonPDS clients at the DC Jail who may not have been poor
•
Still, 80-90 percent of those at DC Jail are indigent
•
Overall, the experience illuminated the connection between
crime and poverty, and the related connection between race
and poverty