Read on Twitter
This is such a thoughtful piece, by @janetmanley. As a public defender, I wrote a lot about my work and even tho I tried to do it in a way that I thought avoided a lot of the issues discussed here, it came to feel problematic. https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjpa7q/should-public-defenders-be-tweeting?utm_content=1613665848&utm_medium=social&utm_source=VICE_twitter
I came to Twitter because I felt that if the vast majority of people understood what happened in criminal courts then it might bring about change to the criminal legal system.
The press were never in night arraignments at 12AM to watch the parade of people sentenced to jail time for minor offenses like jumping the turnstile and I felt most people had a very skewed perception of how the system worked.
I knew that when I started work as a public defender, even with a background in racial advocacy, to walk into that courtroom and see that 90% of people with cases were Black or Brown was overwhelming.
90% is an actual statistic, not an exaggeration. 90% of people arraigned in criminal court in Manhattan and Brooklyn are of color. Sometimes it would feel like100%.
So I thought, if only I could make people feel what I felt every time I walked into that courtroom (because the feeling never goes away) then that might mean something, and also maybe prosecutors and judges might feel some accountability.
This sounds very lofty, naive and probably pretentious, when I say it in retrospect.
I guess I just wanted to raise awareness.
I guess I just wanted to raise awareness.
I was very conscious that my duties were to my individual clients. I would write about cases in very general terms and usually actually not about my own cases.
So I started tweeting. And it did raise awareness.
So I started tweeting. And it did raise awareness.
A couple of other public defenders started tweeting at the same time as me and then all of a sudden it seemed like there was this thing called “public defender twitter.' That’s when I started to get uncomfortable with the whole thing.
I had always thought the people who we represented should be at the center, but now we were at the center. I realized that by writing these narratives of my time in night court, I was contributing to that.
I did try very hard to write plainly and to be conscious of not to falling into the White savior trope, but I also knew that as a White person I was inevitably writing, as Toni Morrison says, from a “White gaze."
It also made me feel uncomfortable that the people with the biggest accounts, of which I was one, were all White.
I think it is very important that people understand issues that public defenders face and we should talk about them on twitter, and when public defenders are at the center of those conversations that’s cool.
But suddenly the conversation was about how can public defenders find new ways to tell their clients’ stories. Like literally the conversation became about how to tell the story. And it was public defenders doing the talking and clients almost became like props.
I am also kind of suspicious when people just talk about creating “ narratives.” I think it is vitally important to use social media and traditional media to raise awareness, but with awareness has to come action.
Sometimes the narratives come with campaigns, sometimes they just seem to be opportunities for people to talk. Sometimes it seems like the people on Twitter are taking credit for work done by people on the ground.
I still almost exclusively talk about criminal justice issues on here. I just don’t talk about it in quite the same way. I do talk about my own experiences as a lawyer, because I think adding a part of yourself is what makes an account interesting and gives it flavor.
If I just reported on criminal justice issues in a completely clinical way I might as well be a newspaper. I just am super conscious of trying not to center myself, although I am sure I fail miserably at times.
There are some amazing public defenders on here who I think have learned to do this much better as the form has developed. It's also fantastic to see Black and Brown women lawyers especially develop strong presences. My favorite voice on here is @msolurin.
Wanted to add other public defenders I love, while remembering also that I am the arbiter of nothing, so totally just my thoughts here. @msolurin and others please chime in. @alittleleader @artemis_nieves @GymTanDefend @urooj_a_khan @ReenNahMean @malarkeymags @brooklynPD
. @shadowfuzz @Ring_Sheryl @mkkaishian @s_phia_ @rachel_foran @MichaelBloch15
I know there are probably 5 to 10 more people I absolutely want to include here whose names are not coming to me because that is how my brain works, so will add when they do!
I know there are probably 5 to 10 more people I absolutely want to include here whose names are not coming to me because that is how my brain works, so will add when they do!
Also am defining public defender broadly to include some former public defenders and anti-poverty lawyers.
Knew this would happen - @gingerjonesNYC @MollyGriffard @shanakn @hrobrish @jameskzeigler @DestinyASingh @FelineousIntent @JaredTruEsqueer @CriticalRace
