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I want to talk to you about #payparity.
I am currently entering my 6th year as a public defender. I represent people facing their first conviction all the way through people facing life imprisonment.
Even after 6 years, I get paid about half of what a first year associate at a private law firm gets paid.
This isn't about being "broke." I am not the poster child for being broke. Much of that is attributable to my landlord, who rented me my apartment at far below market rate bc "I respect what you do and I know you are woefully underpaid."
I have a 1-person household, and only a pet turtle, who costs basically zero money in maintenance. I can afford to finance my dumb hobby. A dumb hobby that is my self-care so I can survive the secondary trauma of this job.
I can't afford a car, and I will certainly never own property, but things are fine.
What this is about, is that when I stand in that courthouse, my adversary is paid a lot more than we are paid. A lot. A wild amount a lot. They have a pension. I don't.
What this is about, is what this says about society. Our society values, literally, those who work to cage the impoverished, the mentally ill, those suffering from substance abuse, and predominantly black and brown folk.
Our society FINANCIALLY INCENTIVIZES those who perpetuate mass incarceration.
You should all be ashamed. #payparitynow
