Thursday, May 4th
After my first round of experiencing interning my junior year, I was lucky enough to fall in love with criminalistics and law. I was luck enough to obtain an internship at the Western School of Law, working for the non-profit organization The California Innocence project. I am hoping to start the fall as an undergraduate at UCSC majoring in legal studies. Being given the second opportunity to intern at the place of my choosing, I decided to go back and continue working alongside such an amazing organization that originally opened my passion for criminalistics and legal studies.
I already went back for more training a couple of days ago, and immediately I was greeted by my old mentors which gave me the feeling of assurance. I no doubt, knew that I wanted to be back with passionate and amazing people who are eager to help me develop more tools and skills required in the legal field.
This time around, I have a different mentor, Raquel Cohen. She's an incredible staff attorney with years of legal expertise. Not only is she incredibly passionate and dedicated to expanding the organizations practice to students, but she's just overall incredible at her job. She knows that I am very familiar with how the system works, and highly recommends me to begin learning how to write memos for cases. Memos will help me generally summarize the importance and key evidence within each specific case. On top of this, my writing will hopefully improve as well.
On the left is an image of all of the work that I will be having to go through, throughout the duration of my internship. Luckily there is more than enough work for me to ensure that I consistently remain busy. This pile consists of; Appellants Opening Briefs , Police Officers Reports, Murder Books, Questionnaires, etc.
Tuesday, May 9th
The last time that I was interning for the California Innocence Project, the office had been busier. I think it was mainly because the clinic program, in which the law students at the Western School of Law compete for a position to take on cases for the program, had been there. This time, since it is late May, there are very few students interning, which leaves us with a small amount of help around the office. I didn't realize how incredible it was to think that we are taking on cases as students, and how much my mentors trust me with handling such confidential information.
My peers that I have been working with, are nothing but helpful. A few of the interns are newer than I am, and it's really neat how much trust me and how they keep asking me questions. They all truly see me as an adult, and they respect me as much as they do one another which is the main reason why I love working with the organization once again.
Having worked for CIP once already, I realized that the first time around I didn't fully absorb the information inmates had been sending as much as I am trying to now. I think that before my main focus was merely getting all of the mail done. However, this time I really want to take the time to read more of the transcripts and court documents to see the process and procedures that are taken to have certain rulings set in place in the courtrooms. It's information that you never get to look at in a classroom, and for me to see and read real life situations right in front of my eyes is crazy.
I'm really excited to continue looking at cases that I have looked at last year. A lot of the inmates that I was previously able to work with have continued to be helped by the organization which is neat to see that they have a chance of becoming exonerated. I really feel for the inmates who can prove innocence, and just need the help from this organization to claim their freedom. This organization is full of wonderful staff attorneys who are amazing at what they do, and I'm glad that I get to learn so much from them once again.
I'm worried that although it isn't my obligation to get all of the mail completely in the Clio program that we use, that I don't get as much done. I know that I want to take the time to look through the documents we are mailed thoroughly. However, I am worried that I might spend too much time focusing on certain pieces of mail, that I don't get most of the mail completed.
This is typically my work space in which I like scanning the best. I find myself always going to this area simply because I can scan bigger documents more efficiently.
Thursday, May 11th
Today was a really exciting day in the office here at CIP. Currently an inmate is getting a lot closer to becoming exonerated! He called the office around 11 am this morning and was excited to get great news from Raquel (my mentor) and Mike (my old mentor) that his case was looking better. It was really a sweet moment. To hear the inmate take a slight pause, of joy, knowing that freedom was closer than he would've imagined. I think moments such as this mans case is one of the reasons that I continue to intern here. There are so many cases that contain information that clearly might not prove innocence, but it's all a part of the process. You have to really put your emotions aside at times and look at the logistics within the cases, to realistically see whether or not the person you are trying to help should move on within the screening process. You have to keep in mind that every year the organization receives about 6,000 pieces of mail, and within that mail contains all of the court transcripts that our staff attorneys must look at as well.
The California Innocence Project is a non-profit organization that helps the wrongfully convicted in Southern California get help from our staff attorneys. This organization puts all their time into helping cases that they know have the potential to exonerate clients. The staff is helped by interns such as myself, who get all of the hundreds of documents mailed over to the organization scanned into their files, to get all of the evidence that we can get. It's amazing to see how much time and effort they spend on one single case, but to think that they do this with hundreds of other cases as well.
A lot of the interns and staff attorneys have been giving me more tasks to do that they know I can take on which has been a great learning experience. I've moved over from the small initial letters (which contain the basics of any call for help from the inmates. In these letters typically the clients tell their story, claim their innocence. etc). Now i'm able to look at the bigger packages containing Appeal of Briefs, Police Officer Reports, Statement of Facts, etc. In doing this I'm able to familiarize myself as to how court transcripts look like, and seeing the process inmates have to go through in order to appeal to certain cases. On top of this, I feel like I've slowly become better at piecing puzzles together, in which is slowly strengthening my investigative skills.
I think the best time for Stephanie to come would be around 11am , since Raquel typically comes in around 10 am every morning , and the HTH interns are usually here by 10:30 as well. It's not too busy around the office at this time , since a lot of the law students take their morning classes, and are usually in the office in the afternoon.
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These are examples of the bigger boxes that we can receive from inmates, their family members, attorneys, courts, etc. I tried to tackle one of the smaller boxes and that alone took me about 3 hours because I had to tear court transcripts apart in order to scan all of the documents.
Tuesday, May 16th
Going into my second week at the Innocence Project is teaching me a lot about passion. I think my first time around, I was entirely drawn to the whole idea of criminal justice for a non-profit stand. However, with a lot of limitations due to the fact that I'm not a lawyer, nor am I studying law at the moment, the amount of things I can actually do with each case is quite limiting. I am lucky enough to be put with tasks like answering and returning voicemails/calls. I feel like it has helped me improve the way I present myself on the phone, which will be very beneficial throughout the rest of my life. I don't regret coming a second time around, because although I feel like I have developed a lot of the skills required to intern at this organization, I am continuing to learn about the California Laws, and judicial practices that I had no idea were unconstitutional.
I have been put in charge of ensuring that I am returning all of the voicemails that have been unanswered for the past few months. A lot of the clinical students who were originally assigned such tasks left the voicemails on hold for the next set of interns to come, so there were a lot of people on the voicemail list that I had to get back to. For the past couple of days, I have been returning voicemails, and when one of the volunteers who assigned me the task asked me where I was at, she was shocked to hear that I was nearly finished. I hope that once I finish all of the phone voicemails tomorrow I can continue going through the big packages of mail.
Thursday, May 18th
This is a group photo of a few of the interns I work with on a daily basis. As you can see a few familiar faces are in fact HTHI students, which has been great. I am glad that I get to work with students from school because it can get quiet at times in the office. I also am working with High Tech Students from Chula Vista, which is cool because they get to tell me about projects they've worked on, aside from just talking about their interning experience. You can't see from this picture, but in the office are also law students. There are law student interns coming in and out of the office year round. They've helped me develop my understanding on legal practice as well.
A very rare moment is captured above... An empty row of seats in the office! Luckily I get to my internship before a majority of the interns, so I always sit in the same spot. None of the interns are assigned a specific
Tuesday, May 23rd
I think this time around, having been at the internship before, I am able to familiarize myself with the structure and how they want everything to look like. I feel more knowledgeable in the sense that I am able to look at the legal documents and know what to do with the case. However, there have been moments when other interns might have doubted my judgment as to what to do with a case, and I have been able to show them my process for determining such cases to be where I think they fit.
Due to my thought process, I have been able to create more assurance within myself. This has taught me to stop feeling less hesitant with my own judgment when I feel quicker to think I am wrong. I think more often than not I tend to think what I am doing might be wrong, when in reality I am going in the right direction.
I love my mentor, and how much she trusts me with more difficult cases! She has asked me several times to look through legal documents and see if there might be information within the cases that have been overlooked. She's great when it comes to investigative work, and I appreciate her constant tips and feedback. I have gone with her frequently to ensure that the things I am looking for are important, because a lot of the evidence that inmates provide can be so much, but it doesn't mean that it's all entirely useful for their case. I love the fact that I am asking her lots of questions here in there because it usually applies to future cases too!
Being assertive has also played a huge role here in the office. It's critical that I focus on one piece of mail at a time. Because the legal documents contain information that could potentially be a huge part of one's case, my mentor stresses that we strictly focus on mail until we have handled it entirely. This has been one of the most challenging things for me to deal with, since I tend to try and juggle a hundred things at a time. I told my mentor this originally, and I like that she's helped me find a happy medium by dealing with the bigger packages. By doing so, I am able to look at a variety of legal documents like Appeal Opening Briefs, Police Reports, Statement of Facts, etc. This allows me to stay interested at what I am looking at, keeping me busy with lots of work, all while fixing my habit of trying to do a hundred things at a time.
Thursday, May 25
Below will be the general breakdown that I typically go through on a daily basis. We use a program called Clio, where every inmate or family member seeking help has had a file made for them individually. It's also critical that we scan EVERY single
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Initial letter: This is typically how we begin an inmates process in which they have to meet these few requirements
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Convicted in Southern California​
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Factually innocent of the charges they are tried as guilty for
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Must have appealed their case
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If the inmate did not send a letter, family members or friends usually will call and ask how to begin the process, in which we then send over a questionnaire to the inmate
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Send over the questionnaire to begin the process, once we receive the questionnaire, we put in all of the basic information that we know into Clio
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Name ​
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​Last name, along with Booking/CDCR number ​
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Groups : How far along they are in the screening process
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​Waiting on Questionnaire​
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Received Legal Docs/ Prescreen
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​AOB/POR prescreen​
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Cherry Pick/ Staff Review
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Rejected
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Crime they committed
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Address; Where they are currently incarcerated. If we are notified that they have changed prisons, we make sure we update it because it allows for future mailing to stay simple so that we don't have to check the federal inmate locator. It's easy to see if they have changed prisons if they have not already updated us just by looking at the address we received their mail from. If it correlates to the one on Clio, it's fine.
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Whether it's a letter, phone call, legal document, etc. We MUST ALWAYS leave a note. We keep notes to constantly let an inmate or whoever is authorized to speak to us about an inmates case to know what the last thing we received was. We do this to ensure that if an inmate may need their legal documents, we know exactly which and when we were given those specific documents.
Tuesday. May 30th
Being able to work alongside staff attorneys has allowed me to get a glimpse as to the work I should be expecting following law. Never for a second did I have doubts about the work load that they had. My mentor is incredibly passionate about law, and she is even more so dedicated to helping those who have been wrongfully convicted. I know it can be hard though, because being at a non-profit organization means that a lot of the tools that you may want, probably won't be entirely and readily available to help everyone. That is why the process at the organization to exonerate one person can take so many years. But this just shows, not only for my mentor, but the other staff attorneys working at CIP, how dedicated they are to their jobs. You truly have to love what you are doing in order to be able to devote so many hours to looking and reviewing legal documents. Raquel had actually attended Cal Western School of Law, and now amazingly works for the California Innocence Project. She is always looking for more ways to get students to challenge themselves and intern for the CIP. In doing so, this allows students to get an idea if this is a potential career path that they might follow once they complete Law school, and pass the BAR of course.
Like I constantly stress, I am in awe at how incredibly devoted the clinic/intern students are working here in the office. The last time I came, I had been working alongside a lot of the spring quarter interns, but this time they were not in session. However, I have gotten a lot of great help from Caitlin. She has been working at the office for a while now, and shes taught me a lot of great little tips that have strengthened my office skills in general. I can properly answer the phones, and return calls in a professional manner. I also know that whenever I need help, she will always help me answer questions I may have. I think many times interns feel like they can't answer questions due to looking like they are unsure, but it's only normal! I think that in order to grow as an intern, you just have to learn from mistakes and grow from them. That is why I embrace the fact that I am by no means a lawyer, so it's only right that I get help from those who know more than I.
Having interned at the California Innocence Project once already, I came in with the mindset that I wanted to just grasp as much as I could to see if whether or not this would be a potential career of mine. I definitely see myself pursuing law, especially criminal law. I love the fact that I have not found a moment where I'm not interested in what it is that I'm working on. Legal documents amaze me, and reading transcripts is interesting to me. I might even want to attend law school here, but I'm going to leave my options open.
Thursday, June 1st
My mentor, Raquel, initially attended UNLV for her undergraduate degree. She went in as a Criminal Justice Major, and towards the end of her undergraduate degree in college, she wrote her senior thesis on Innocent People being on the death row. This was what her professor at the time recommended for her, since she was hoping to attend law the following semester. While writing her thesis, she tried to make it a perspective piece; focusing on how the inmate felt, how the courts felt, etc. She interned with an attorney in San Diego, since she liked visiting the area anyways. The attorney just so happened to attend the California Western School of Law, in which got her to apply for law school as well. Initially she was wait listed to the newer law school at her school in UNLV. She had heard about the programs offered at Cal Western. Since she had already gotten into the law school she decided to just go for it and move to San Diego. By doing this she saw her interests and worlds colliding and was able to join the clinical program her second year of law school. After CIP, and graduating law school, she moved to Orange County with her boyfriend at the time (now her husband, who she also met at Cal Western). After he got moved to San Diego, CIP had gotten new funding and was hiring, so she went for it and got hired as an independent contractor for the California Innocence Project.
While interning here, I knew that I was determined to work on the tasks that usually is expected of the interns. Everyday, I came in and tried to tackle at least 10-20 pieces of mail, knowing that I it wasn't going to get smaller. I wanted to get as much done simply because I know that there is a lot of inmates who needed our help, and frankly we were their last resort. I was happy when one of the interns who had been there for a while, trusted me enough to take care of the voice mails that we had to return. She told me that I spoke on the phone very well, and knew that I was capable of completing the task. It took me about 2 full days of interning to complete the task I was given, and she was so thrilled that I was able to get it done so quickly. It allowed me to see why doing tasks in the workplace is so important, because it really helps someone who doesn't have the time to do everything.
Having been here already, I think I did a great job trying to help the newer interns who didn't entirely know how the process worked. The clio system that we used wasn't difficult, but there were also specific things that we had to make sure we did, so I wanted to clear that up to avoid any error. I tried my best to ensure that Ashley also felt comfortable enough handling the mail, and tried to answer the questions she had to the best of my ability. I know in my previous interning experience, that I also had questions and I appreciated the people who took the time to help me out.
After this internship experience, I think I solidified the fact that I want to be a lawyer. I love the investigative process, the initial process, and the stories behind the thousands of people out there needing assistance. I think that I want to be a criminal justice attorney, because of how passionate I have become in such an environment such as this one. I've learned how to handle giving difficult news to inmates, which I eventually just have to gain the courage to be able to do.
I have created amazing relationships, that even today I still am lucky enough to have ; my previous mentor, past law students, and Raquel as well. I'm grateful to have been surrounded by people who continue to show their appreciation for the work I have done to help the organization out. I would hope that one day, if I do decide to attend law school here, that I myself will be able to intern for their clinical program and take on a case of my own.
I realized how relaxing such an environment such as this one can be for me. It was casual, and to a point that wasn't distracting me from doing my work, but making it easier. I use to have an impression that working in a office would be boring, but CIP is nothing like that at all. I could see myself doing the work that a lot of the staff attorneys here are doing, and I think that my devotion to ensuring I was completing what I had to just made it more evident for me.
To the left is our mentor, Raquel Cohen. Miriam, Ashley and I are all pictured above being the HTHI interns of the office.
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Above is a picture of the mail when we had first arrived. I do not lie, when I mean we had SO MUCH mail that needed to be opened and handled. Luckily, it took us a few weeks to take care of the mail from small to large.
Above is the most recent picture of our mail situation at the moment. Not any. All of us interns worked very hard to make sure that when the clinic students began, they wouldn't have to worry a lot about the mail.
Friday, June 2nd
I appreciated how hands on this experience has been since day one. It's incredible how much the staff attorneys trusted us enough to be able to work on such intense cases. Everything is legal work, so the fact that I was able to handle such confidential work was beyond words. I know that this organization was the best opportunity for me to get a general idea as to what it may look like to a be a lawyer one day, and the work that they typically see in criminal law.
I loved working alongside law students. They really know what hard work is, and they definitely work hard, and they're dedicated to be lawyers. They come from intense law classes, come to CIP and intern for a couple of hours, and then go back to studying for the rest of the day. They truly do not have any time off and the fact that they are so honest about how intense law school can be is something I really appreciate. I can see myself in some of the law students, especially those who came to visit me from last year. They know what they want, and they won't stop until they get it. It's evident that you can not beat your way around law school, you truly have to put in the time and energy in order to succeed. I hope if I get into Law school one day, I can continue to have such a work ethic that will be needed for me to do well in all of my classes.
Since I do want to pursue law, I realized that I want to make sure that I really find programs that are similar to the work here at the Innocence Project. This project is unique in many ways, but I'm sure that they offer programs that will strengthen my knowledge. It's important for me to ensure that I keep in contact with CIP, and the clinic students here. Even if I don't decided or don't end up going to Cal Western, I would hope that they can give me resources that help me as a lawyer and a law student.
Having interned for an organization that helps the wrongfully convicted, it allowed me to realize how flawed our judicial/legal system is. The amount of innocent people who are currently incarcerated is just upsetting, It makes me think to what extent do we have to go through as potential lawyers to start implementing ways that we can limit the amount of people that we wrongfully convict. We make so many flaws, that i'm afraid how long it will take for us to realize that it's avoidable. I think I want to take the time to look up criminal law more during the summer, so I can go into political science classes with a different understanding when defending how I feel about our common law and procedure. I think that the relationships I built here last year have helped me formulate a better appreciation for those that we meet in our lives. Through a lot of their dedication, I have built an appreciation for implementing the work ethic of others into my own practice as well. I hope that one day if I decide to follow the path in law and attend Cal Western, that I can work for Justin Brooks and continue expanding my knowledge in law.
Below are picture of the interns ,who I worked with previously, and them visiting me on my last day. The reason why I chose to take a picture with them are a few. When they found out that I went to the office to intern one more time, they made an effort to visit me at least a couple of times. I think that this really shows that they are genuinely people who want to see you thrive. I can count on them for any future questions I may have about law in the future, and see them as my push to continue pursuing law.
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A picture of Ashley, I, Justin Brooks (Founder of CIP) and the previous clinic students who I interned with last year. They came to visit me for my last day, which was really nice since they are studying for
Another picture with me, the old intern/clinic students from last year, and the director of CIP, Justin Brooks
HTHI INTERNS OF 2017