New...? in Book Two: The Fifteenth Year of the Third Millennium of the Common Era

Today started something… somewhat new. Ever since I took my current part-time job, things have evolved there. From simple Pre Trial Interviewing and Court appearances… to then deeper interviewing for larger programs… to the inclusion of spearheading our own Sobriety Program. All of those things I have done and mastered. However, there is one part of our job I have actively avoided until today. At some point, the Jail decided they no longer wished to staff the Law Library that rests in the center of the Corrections Facility. However, as “maintaining a Law Library that an inmate is allowed to access at least once a week” is a law and a grant matter, that created an issue. So… my department was saddled with staffing the Law Library. It is where people go to quit. Honestly. Nobody lasts in that part of the job for more than six months.

Which is where I enter. Because… both people currently doing that job… are quitting. As anything is a welcome change from what I’m going through with this damned job search… I volunteered to train on it and cover until replacements could be hired. True, it takes me out of court (sad face) but… honestly? There was nothing more to learn, nothing more to do… the reason I’ll miss court is because it was closest to my education. I literally received special recognition for Litigation while in Law School. BUT… when I’m in court, it isn’t like I’m in court. So… it isn’t that big of a loss.

Law Library… worked from 10 am to 3 pm. It is a lot more to do and learn than anything else for this job. It is also a lot more irritating and dangerous. Dangerous… because it is within the confines of the jail. BUT there are no cameras in the Law Library to assist with security. Legally, that makes sense. If an inmate is representing himself in court… no cameras. There are no cameras in Clergy/Attorney areas… it makes sense. What makes it dangerous (and infuriating) is that no matter HOW many times we request… there are NO guards in the Law Library. No Guards, No Corrections Officers, No individuals with training of any kind. So… lets say one inmate decides to take the Nebraska Revised Statute Chapter 2 book off the shelf… walk over to the Law Librarian… and begin beating that person to death… there are no guards to prevent it. And we have been given no training to prevent it. THAT is an issue. That issue rolls into the reason the job is so irritating. I’ll state it vaguely then explain: The job reaffirms that I should be a prosecutor.

Most of the inmates who walked in today were not protesting their innocence. They were not investigating the crime they were alleged to have broken to determine why they were charged with that crime. No. As is typical… Jail is filled with people of all ages who behave like a 4 year old with their hand in the cookie jar. An individual approaches me and says, “Yo, the cops came into my house with a warrant and saw my guns on the table. They can’t just take those, can they?” Yes, sir. They absolutely can. You’re an idiot. A search warrant allows them to search the named premises for the named object; however anything in plain view may also be seized for officer safety or investigatory purposes. Another individual approaches me and says, “How can they charge me with accessory, if I didn’t have the gun?” Are you shitting me, sir? Don’t you have a lawyer? and then, of course, it occurs to me… yes, all of these men DO have a lawyer; and their lawyer has told them the law a thousand times… but (and this is no exaggeration) all of these men (ALL) do not believe anyone that doesn’t agree with them. Case in point: Another individual approaches me and says, “Listen here man, my attorney didn’t object to anything at my pretrial hearing. How do I get a new one?” To which I inquire, “A new pretrial hearing?” The inmate becomes indignant and retorts, “No, man! A new lawyer. I need a nigger that ain’t gonna just take it, y’know.” I didn’t even try to reason with this man. I instructed him that if the attorney was appointed, he could file insufficient council and/or represent himself and/or hire an attorney. But honestly? Of course your attorney isn’t going to object to anything at a pretrial hearing. A pretrial hearing simply determines whether the prosecution has enough to go to trial. You object at trial. WHY do these people think that being career criminals means that they know the law better than their attorneys?

Perhaps my favorite today. Individual approaches me with both of his hands firmly thrust down his trousers. Attempting to glare me down, he stammers “I need to know about my Constitutional Rights.” I inform him, “The United States Constitution is behind you located in the green hardcover books on the top shelf.” My answer was insufficient. “No, man. I mean statutes. I need to know the statute that says wes got inalienable rights like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” As I had realized at this point… in court, I speak with other lawyers, here… I’m speaking with children… but I tried to rein in the “intellectual” side of me and replied, “That’s in the preamble^; it isn’t actually a statute, there are no constitutional rights liberally guaranteeing life, or liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. The constitution is behind you in the green books on the top shelf.”

The gentleman, for he had to be in his forties, proceeded to grab one of the green books, thumb through it for five minutes, and then spent the next 40 minutes wandering around telling people about the rights they probably don’t know they had. People like him, I’m told, are incredibly common in the Law Library. They are called “Jailhouse Lawyers” and the term is pejorative. These are individuals that are convinced that they know the law better than anyone… even the judges. And that every inmate should take their advice. AND if an attorney advises their client to do something different then it is clear proof that the attorney is actually working with the prosecutor and the police. THESE will now be the people I spend my part-time job with.

I’m happy to be learning something new. I’m happy to have something to do in my life other than fill out applications and wait for them to be rejected. But… it certainly doesn’t fit with where I wanted to be or where I am trying to go.

^ I realized after the fact, but did not correct myself, that the Life, Liberty quotation is actually found in the Declaration of Independence. This is only significant because the Declaration of Independence has no legal veracity at all as it was simply a letter penned by a rebellious faction within the colonies declaring the creation of a new country… a country which had not developed laws, government, or any of that which we know of today.