They say fate helps those who help themselves. Well, CPCS helps those who can’t.

The Committee for Public Counsel Services provides attorneys for indigents, or those who would otherwise not be able to afford an attorney to defend them from criminal prosecution. In this sense, it is the direct counterpart of the District Attorney’s Office, which is responsible for the prosecution of suspects. Although one of the lesser-known departments of the Massachusetts public service network, CPCS defends the rights mandated by the 6th Amendment to the Constitution, namely the right to keep counsel when under prosecution. Without CPCS, countless innocent people would be wrongfully imprisoned, feeding the already immense prison-industrial complex, and degrading the fundamental American ideal that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This year, the division of CPCS that handles cases in the Massachusetts Superior Court system decided to take on a Ward Fellow. Although CPCS hosts law student interns year-round, this year is the first that they have had a high-school student. M Barusch, who is the intern supervisor for the Superior Court Division, is also a trial attorney who argues cases in court, convincing juries and judges. While the work at CPCS demands rigor and has no room for mediocrity, everyone is always ready to step up and lend a hand, because the defense of the powerless will always require the unity of the empowered.

Everyone at CPCS understands that we represent the line between justice and corruption, between liberty and oppression. And this is a charge we take up with enthusiasm.