Soooo excited!!!

Ok, so this comes a day late because I didn't have time to blog last night.

Well, I had a big meeting scheduled at work at 10 am yesterday morning. The meeting was with the supervisor of the Domestic Violence (DV) Unit, one of the Deputy State's Attorneys (2nd in charge) in our office, and another one of the Assistant State's Attorneys (or ASA...that's what I am) who is currently assigned to the DV Unit. They really didn't tell me what the meeting was about, only to be there for the meeting.

Well, I got there, and they gave me the BEST NEWS! I am being moved into the Domestic Violence Unit! This will be effective March 1. I have been wanting to get into that unit for a long time. Our FJC (Family Justice Center) is really where my heart is. I think prosecuting domestic violence and crimes against children which are the crimes that are handled at the FJC is probably some of the most important work our office does. I will be handling domestic violence cases, not so much the crimes against children, with the exception of some cases which include assaults against children. I am so, so excited. The other ASA that they met with (they ended up doing the meetings separately to break the news to her first) will be moving out of the unit and back to regular District Court as well as doing juvenile sex offense cases.

The reason for the move is this. Our office got a federal grant last year in light of our county's budget crisis under the Recovery Act of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) which goes to fund the position I will be filling. We made a proposal to get this grant. The grant proposed that the position that I will be in (and the other ASA is currently filling) requires that 85% of the ASA in that position's time will be spent doing District Court Domestic Violence cases. The problem was this...the ASA currently in that role is not interested in being in District Court. She makes no secret of the fact that she thinks District Court is beneath her and consistently takes on more and more cases in Circuit Court, including DV cases and other types of cases. We have gone 2 quarters under this grant and not even begun the changes we proposed to make, mainly because she didn't want to do the job for the position she was in. The icing on the cake was when she took on voluntarily the juvenile sex offense cases, thus taking more time away from the DV cases. As it currently stands, there is a monthly DV docket in District Court which it is technically her job to handle. I don't believe she has handled one in months. She has recently admitted that she wasn't in District Court AT ALL the whole month of February. The reason I say all this is that since the meeting yesterday, I believe she has been complaining about the fact that she is being moved. The thing is she doesn't care that she is being moved out of DV. She is mad because she is not going to Circuit Court (mostly felonies), but rather back to District Court plus doing the juvenile sex offenses. In light of the economy, no one is leaving their jobs, and there is really no opening in Circuit Court, so I really don't know what she expected, but I am annoyed and frustrated by her attitude, especially since she does not care about DV, and it's sooo important, and to her, it is only a way to NOT be in District Court, even though the job she currently hold is "District Court DV prosecutor! Ridiculous!

Anyway, on to more important topics, our FJC and DV Unit is one of the best around and really held out in a lot of places to be an example. We do things sooo well and have a great team, and with the adjustments we are about to make, we are going to make even more leaps forward. The plan is this - our office, District Court, and the commissioner's office have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding in which there will be not a monthly DV docket, but a WEEKLY DV docket, and all of the DV cases that come in will be placed on those dockets. I will handle ALL of these dockets. Now here's the cool thing about that...that means that with the exception of felonies, I will have my hands on ALL of the DV cases that come into the office. The majority of DV cases are misdemeanors, so it's really an awesome task that I've been given, and one that could make a major impact on domestic violence in the county I work in and grew up in.

This will definitely be super rewarding, but challenging at the same time. DV cases are obviously emotional and very challenging because many times out of fear, love, financial reasons, and other reasons, the victims will change their story, minimize the incident, and do everything possible to protect their abusers. However, when you get a good result, it is so, so rewarding and feels sooo good!!

So, suffice to say, I am so looking forward to the challenges and rewards that are ahead and am so thankful they are giving me this opportunity to make such a big difference in people's lives.