When I wanted to be a prosecutor, nobody ever asked me how I could stomach spending my life asking judges and juries to put people in cages - people who are overwhelmingly poor, non-white, and forgotten by the world.

They didn't ask me how I could stomach wielding the power of the government against the against those who are already disenfranchised and oppressed.

Nobody asked me how I could stomach changing people's lives forever by taking actions to saddle them with the stain of a permanent criminal record that would only ever list their worst moments and biggest mistakes without taking into account any of their best character traits.

Nobody asked me how I could stomach the thought of people losing their kids, cars, jobs, and apartments in the event that I advocated for a bond that was too high for them to afford.

Nobody asked me how I could stomach the thought that innocent people would undoubtedly accept a guilty plea that I offered them, or lose trials against me, and go to prison as a result.

But now that I am a public defender, it seems that all anyone can do is ask how I stomach standing next to a person accused of a violent crime and doing my best to safeguard their constitutional rights, including the one that says everyone is innocent until proven guilty.