School: University of South Carolina School of Law

This summer I interned with the Tallapoosa, Georgia Judicial Circuit as Judge Mark Murphy's law clerk. Judge Murphy is a juvenile court judge. He presides over both Department of Family and Children's Services (DFCS) and those of the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). This judicial circuit encompasses Haralson and Polk Counties in northwest Georgia. As a law clerk I observed court, drafted orders and legal memoranda, edited the Judge's upcoming legal treatise on juvenile law and shadowed a Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) worker, a special assistant attorney general (SAAG), and an Attorney-Guardian.

Judge Murphy was a wonderful mentor and provided me with lots of freedom and encouragement. He actively encouraged me to share my feelings about what went on in court and suggest how I might handle the situation. He had me sit in on the interviews for new associate judges and encouraged me to ask questions along with the rest of the panel. When I was particularly moved by a case, he suggested that I draft a court order explaining how the case should come out and why. If he agreed with me, he would use part of my court order in his own. He also encouraged me to share information and resources that I might have gleaned from my studies in psychology that might help to improve the juvenile court system. Working with him has really made me consider being a judge someday.

In addition, I had the opportunity to shadow several other "players" in the system. One week I shadowed SAAG Evan Stapler, who sat down with me to discuss his own frustrations with the system and how it might be improved. We also talked about the difficulties inherent in this line of work (very low pay, very emotional) and the realities of working in a poor, rural area.

The next week I shadowed Attorney-Guardian Kim Puckett. Kim was very encouraging and gave me lots of information about starting your own firm and how to do what you love (i.e. family and children's law) and still make a living. Kim also talked with me about how to balance the need to help others with the need to keep one's self sane and happy (she relies heavily on her faith and family). Kim showed me first-hand just how heartbreaking this work can be by taking me on a number of home visits.

Finally, I shadowed DFCS worker Robin Forston of Polk County DFCS. Robin took me on a number of home visits and shared a number of cases with me. She also asked me how I would resolve situations if I was in her place. It was good for me to see things from the side of DFCS as well as from the judge's side. I really appreciate the way that she and other professionals treated me more like a colleague than an intern.

This internship has really inspired me to work on improving the situation for children in the court system. Each time I was faced with a case of child abuse or neglect, I wished that there was some way to prevent it from happening in the first place, rather than dealing with it on the tail end. For many of these children, there simply wasn't much we could do by the time they got to court. Rather than complaining about how "broken" the system is, I'd like to learn more about how to prevent the system from being needed at all.

On the other hand, I got to see a lot of people working very hard to do what they could with what they were given. This too is work I'd like to continue. It is truly amazing how much some of these children benefited from one simple thing - love. There were several cases in which one would think the child was beyond help, only to find that time in a loving home was able to improve the situation beyond measure.

I also think that there needs to be greater communication between community resources and the court system. It seems like such a waste when judges aren't aware of resources available in their own community, or if they are, they often don't understand exactly what services are provided.