Work # two

I've started my internship. I'm working in (what I consider to be) a large courthouse, which is about 45 miles (65 minutes) from my house. The drive sucks, but the work is really neat. Basically, I wear a pager, and bailiffs, prosecutors, and sometimes judges page me to bring them files or to escort defendants and the recently convicted to their respective places.

What's neat about the job is the interaction with attorneys. In the four days since I've started, I've solidified my opinion about *not* practicing criminal law. I definitely do not want to prosecute people, I think the risks involved in that are too great. On the other side of the spectrum, I do not want to be responsible for keeping criminals on the street. There's an inherent negative duality to being a good defense attorney (and I do want to be a good attorney) -- you can win your case and someone whose likely to be guilty goes free or you can lose the case and not do your job well. Even in winning, I would feel like I’m at least partly on the losing side.

I'm still not entirely sold on this internship. I'm not making nearly enough money to make it worth my while. However, I'm meeting a lot of neat people, and getting to watch a lot of neat things (e.g., jury trials, arraignments). For the time being, though, I’m staying put and learning as much as I possibly can.