Are You on Facebook?

Mobile devices, emails, Instagram, twitter.  Not only that, but you are expected to check your devices at night and on weekends.   It’s all enough to drive you crazy.  We already know that we are far too distracted already.  So why are you writing us about Facebook?
 
I get it.  I once read an article by columnist Leonard Pitts who described what was happening to his brain.  As a journalist, he was constantly having to check the internet for information, updates, and research.  On the other hand, he loved to read novels and nonfiction.  Big books.  He said that the former was making it more difficult to do the latter.  He thought our brains were changing, similar to the changes that occurred after the development of the printing press and literacy.  And none of us want our brains changed.
 
So if you want to stop reading now, that’s OK.  However, if you do have a little brain space left, I want to make sure that you all know that you can get a lot of criminal justice articles specifically chosen for public defenders on our Facebook page.  I know because I’m one of three people who choose them.  Amanda Alvarez Thibeault, our MyGideon Director, and Jeff Sherr, our Training Director, are the other two people selecting articles to post. 
 
I personally have four google alerts, the Fair Punishment Project, the Marshall Project, the Washington Post, and the New York Times as my go-to sources.  I have people like Kate Mason of Augusta and Jill Paperno of Rochester who also send articles to me on a regular basis.  Out of all those articles that I read, I try to choose ones that I think you as a public defender, public defender leader, or NAPD member would want to read.  I’m looking for articles about public defenders, workloads, police practices, corrections policy, laws that aren’t working, policy changes, injustice, probation and parole, forensics, changes in indigent defense systems, and important cases.  I’m particularly interested in personal stories about public defenders.  From tens if not hundreds of articles I read daily, I try to limit my posts to 5-10 articles that will grab your attention. I think what is being posted is pretty good.
 
I have a request.  If you come across something you think your fellow defender, social worker, mitigation specialist, admin, or other public defense professional would want to read, copy the link and shoot it to me at ernie.lewis@gmail.com
 
I have another request.  If you’re not on Facebook but you’re open to it, like the page.  There is a pretty robust conversation going on with some of the articles.  And yes, there are some trolls who have found their way to our page.  We already have over 11,200 “likes” to our page, and it’s growing every day.  Most of our posts reach thousands of people.  A couple have reached over 50,000.  That’s not bad.  It’s communication about what interests us, and it binds us together.  If your brain can tolerate it, give it a try.