Contributed by an Intern with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office Public Justice Fellowship Program
For the first session of the Attorney General’s Public Justice Fellowship program, I was assigned to the the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. Millions of thoughts were flowing through my head while I waited patiently in the lobby of South Bay Correctional Center.
I have two brothers behind bars here; will they use that against me? I know so many people here; could I say what’s up to those I grew up with; will I be penalized for doing so?
My nerves made me over think, but despite my thoughts, I was cool. I arrived early, so when 9 0’clock struck I was ready to go in. I placed my bag in a locker and had my hand stamped in order to go back where the inmates were. I was excited to get started.
During my first week, I shadowed people like Anne Nee, True-See Allah, and Joe Crosby. They gave me a basic outlook of the facility and showed me around. I ate cafeteria food made by inmates, which was not as tasty as I would’ve liked. The week became more interesting when I started working in Records. I was assigned to search inmate files and reduce their sentence on document according to their “goodtime”. Goodtime is reduced sentence time given to inmates when they take classes or work for the facility under staff supervision.
My first week wrapped up pretty good and I was anxious to get started on my second week.
Week two was a little more comfortable and exciting. I saw firsthand the selection process amongst the submitted applications for work at the Sheriff’s Department. My supervisor for the day made me, as an intern, feel like an employee. I filed the names of applicants in the file room, and recorded record why specific applicants were denied. The women I was working with took good care of me. They brought me food and I gracefully ate with them. We laughed, joked, and we conversed about things deemed unnecessary elsewhere. My supervisor kept me for the whole week because she requested to “steal” me after my work with her on Monday. My time at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department was one to remember.
Next week, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office…