BeSustained
Well Being for Public Defenders
Author: JP Andrews
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3 Spheres of Public Defense Well-Being: A Framework for Understanding Impacts and Obstacles, and for Responding with Appropriate Tools and Strategies
I’ve been thinking for a while about a useful framework for discussing well-being in public defense. I believe there are three spheres relevant to our well-being in public defense work: self, service and system. These three spheres provide a useful framework for understanding impacts, obstacles and challenges to sustaining well being, and also guide us…
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Some Thoughts on Public Defense, Data Entry and Moral Injury
I’ve been thinking about moral injury and data entry. This may not seem the sexiest topic during a pandemic, but during a pandemic is when many public defense offices are simultaneously rolling out or increasing data collection. This focus on data also may be because I’ve just spent many weekend hours entering file notes and…
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RBG: May Her Memory Be A Revolution
Though the news cycle has moved on, today to the hearings to confirm the nominee to replace her, I am still thinking about RBG. I am grateful that she was there as a beacon for four generations of feminists. I’m grateful to her for opening doors that I walked through. I decided to go to…
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Put Your Body on The Gears
On December 2, 1964, Mario Savio gave his famous “Bodies on the Gears” speech on the steps of Sproul Hall at UC Berkeley. It was during the Free Speech Movement. In protest of the university’s ban on political activity, Savio spoke these words: “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious,…
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Remote Work Strategies in Public Defense
Like many of you, I am suddenly working remotely a large portion of the time. I didn’t choose it and I don’t much like it. I’m on zoom instead of in court, on zoom instead of at live staff meetings, on zoom instead of brainstorming cases in the halls with colleagues. It’s hard to keep…
BeSustained 