Name: Jana Stemple
Class Year: 2027
Major: Sociology
Minor: French
Internship Organization: DeKalb County Office of the Public Defender
Internship Title: Public Defense Intern
Location: Decatur, GA
What's happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
At my internship, I work with state court public defense attorneys. I assist in court and process applications for our office, while also observing court proceedings. I call clients to update them on their cases and get information for their attorneys. I also review evidence from the state and write summaries for the attorneys. I have also helped to draft legal documents and do legal research for a few cases. In addition, the internship program at the public defender’s office plans field trips for us where we have toured the local jail, medical examiner, and psychiatric hospital.
Why did you apply for this internship?
In high school, I volunteered at a prison through a nonprofit that started a garden at the facility. Through this work, I learned how important it was that everyone have access to legal representation. I applied to this internship because I wanted to be able to help people like those I met at the prison where I worked.
What has been your favorite part of the internship?
My favorite part of this internship has been how many different things I get to experience. I spend time in court, in the office, on tours, and in the jail. It is so hard to get bored because I am always learning something new and running between the office and the courthouse. Sometimes, if there is less to do at the office, I will go and observe other attorneys’ trials at the courthouse in my free time. I have loved being able to balance shadowing and observing with doing hands-on work. No single day is the same, and I have learned so much from the attorneys I work with as they have shared their experiences with me.
What is most rewarding about your internship?
The most rewarding part of my internship has been getting to work directly with our client through phone calls to them in jail, meetings in court, or emails. I love being able to give them time to tell their stories and feel like they have people who are listening and working to help them.
I took the course “Technical Citizenship: Incarceration, Redemption, and Abolition” last semester at Haverford. This course highlighted the ways in which various technologies perpetuate the harms of the criminal legal system. Through these interactions, I have been able to see how the criminal legal system impacts people’s lives and connect these experiences with what we studied in class.
These interactions have also underscored the many reasons why public defense work is so important. People have been so kind to me, and it has been so meaningful knowing that what I do can make even a small difference in someone’s life.
Career & Civic Engagement Center Internships Sociology French