“The Works of Poet Lawyer Reginald Dwayne Betts” by Jonathan Watson

In honor of April’s National Poetry Month, this posting will focus on activist, playwright, performer and self-described “lawyer poet” Reginald Dwayne Betts. Maryland-native Betts was a high school honor student when—at the age of 16—he was tried as an adult for participating in a carjacking (Lim, 2022). It was during his nine-year incarceration that Betts began reading and writing poetry.

In “Finding Freedom In Words: Lawyer Poet Reginald Dwayne Betts Receives MacArthur Fellowship” (Mosely & McMahon, 2021), Betts mentions how he was influenced by poets Etheridge Knight and Lucille Clifton. In a 2016 PBS News Hour segment, Betts shared how poetry “…was my idea of how to be somebody. Being a poet…gave me something to pursue, and I could easily tell when I was doing it right by people’s response.” You might view the following lines from his poem “A Postmodern Two-Step” as a peek into his thoughts while imprisoned:

Some people say prison is the country

where life is cheaper than anywhere else;

you wouldn’t think that watching us take leave,

our caravan three deep and black against

the wine-dark asphalt, and two of three

are nothing but escorts: four uniformed

shotguns (off safety) leading and flanking

our coffle, all intent to keep us here…

After serving his time, Betts attended Prince George’s Community College. He earned his B.A. degree in English from the University of Maryland, MFA from Warren Wilson College, and a Juris Doctorate degree from Yale Law School. In 2021, Betts began working on his PhD in Law at Yale University (Maryland Today, 2021). His other accomplishments include serving as a member of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and having founded Freedom Reads (an organization devoted to providing access to literature in prisons).

In 2023, Betts and artist Titus Kaphar released the book Redaction. As described by Griffiths (2019), the work started off as an exhibition and “…draws on source material from lawsuits filed on behalf of people incarcerated because of an inability to pay court fines and fees”. On “All Things Considered” (NPR; 2023), Betts hoped that “…when you read the poems and when you look at the images, you see that it runs the gamut…of the American experience in America.” Fellow interviewee Kaphar expressed how “…as artists, we can somehow get people to feel, that’s a powerful gesture in itself…”

Solano County Library carries Betts’ poetry collection Felon at Solano County Library. You can request a copy of Redaction via the LINK+ system. LINK+ also allows you to request other Betts titles such as his memoir A Question of Freedom. Be sure to also visit his Poetry Foundation profile to read more of his poetical works. You might also check out Betts’ interview with the Library Journal (January 2023).

This blog posting is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for legal advice. Please consult with a legal expert for the best guidance.

Lawsuits and Mental Health – Part II by Jonathan Watson

The advent of 2023 means the end of our series on mental health and wellness. To review, our first posting in the series dealt with workplace bullying and hostile work environments. The second focused on how lawsuits affected the mental health of litigants, their attorneys, and even organizations such as law libraries that aim to best serve pro per customers. This final posting will focus on the wellness aspects of dealing with a lawsuit.

How might wellness be defined? The UC Davis Student Health and Counseling Services devised the following “Eight Dimensions of Wellness”: emotional, occupational, intellectual, environmental, financial, physical, social and spiritual. Although you might be put off by the title, if we adapt the model devised by UC Davis, you could say that the 2010 edition of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Lawsuits primarily encourages emotional and physical wellness. Some of the stress-relieving methods that the book proposes include mild exercise, adhering to a sleep schedule, seeking support groups or therapists, and closely communicating with counsel.   

What about wellness for counsel? In her article “How Law Firms Can Help Litigators Foster Mental Wellness”, Ortega (2022) mentions how law firms have adopted work environments that emphasize teamwork and systems in which litigators can communicate their mental health needs. Abella (2022) wrote how the pandemic affected the work life balance of attorneys and paraprofessionals (e.g., older/single attorneys struggling with loneliness, working parents juggling the care of children and elderly family members, etc.). Abella mentions the Lawyers Assistance Program that is available to California attorneys, which offers short-term counseling sessions.

While the above materials address maintaining one’s mental health and wellness during a lawsuit, what about after the case concludes? Returning to Strasburger’s “The Litigant-Patient: Mental Health Consequences of Civil Litigation” (1999), he mentioned that stress can persist even after a case’s conclusion. In his 2008 article “Lessons from Losing…Defeat”, Gwilliam specifically wrestles with what might be feared most: being the defeated party. He addresses how the concepts of justice and ambition can be harmful when neither prevails, and counsel is left unsatisfied. In which case, is losing supposed to teach a person about humility and perseverance as Gwilliam asserts?

Even though Gwilliam is speaking from the perspective of an attorney, his personal lessons might still be worth reading as a layperson. You might have some legal recourse if you lose depending upon the nature of your case, but will that be wise if your mental health and wellness is dwindling?  More so, rather than seeing it as a sign of weakness, could accepting litigious defeat be liberating? This, of course, is something to be decided by the litigant and having a support system (as described by the articles in this posting) could be useful to gain a better standpoint.

As a reminder, be sure to check out Solano County Library’s mental health kits. If you are unable to check out the kits, you can explore similar materials by using Solano County Library’s databases. Whether you are a pro per litigant or a legal expert, be sure to visit Solano County Law Library for your legal reference needs!  

This blog posting is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for legal advice. Please consult with a legal expert for the best guidance.

Lawsuits and Mental Health – Part I by Jonathan Watson

Our last blog posting addressed workplace bullying and hostile work environments. This entry will take a broader approach in tying mental health to law. It is said that a divorce is one of the most stressful life events for a person. What about other types of litigation that fall under, say, civil or criminal law?

Please be aware that this posting is not a substitute for mental health advice or support. Nor is this posting intended to discourage an individual from pursuing justice. Rather, it is intended to highlight how one’s health (especially mental) can be affected due to legal proceedings. As summarized by Strasburger in “The Litigant-Patient: Mental Health Consequences of Civil Litigation” (1999),

“…civil litigation is stressful for plaintiffs and for defendants. There is an inherent irony in the judicial system in that individuals who bring suit may endure injury from the very process through which they seek redress. The legal process itself is often a trauma. Although many hope-and some find-that it is ultimately restorative, no one brings a lawsuit for his or her health…”

It might be thought that the end of a case will prove cathartic. We always see the courtroom erupting in jubilation when the judge rules in favor of the protagonist in films and television. However, Strasburger goes on to state that the feelings of stress for both parties reverberate even after the case’s conclusion. More so, the nature of the case can especially have adverse effects—as a personal injury lawsuit was cited as further affecting the overall health of an ailing party. After all, will the judgment make the ongoing pain and mounting medical costs suddenly vanish?

In the 2017 article “Anticipating and Managing the Psychological Cost of Civil Litigation”, Keet, Heavin and Sparrow discuss the impact of litigation stress and how it can be amplified based on the perceived level of stakes. More so, the stress can prove detrimental for individuals with ongoing mental or emotional vulnerabilities. The authors describe how an individual suffering from PTSD after witnessing a violent event might be further triggered by repeated interviews about the incident. As the litigation stress mounts, the authors describe scenarios in which the litigant might exhaust their support system, or the attorney-client meetings start growing increasingly difficult.  

If represented by an attorney, it might seem like the litigant is experiencing the bulk of the stress—as they are relying on an expert to guide them through the legal process. Yet, as with other professions, attorneys are only human and cope with litigation stress in their own ways. According to a study conducted by Krill, Johnson, and Albert (2016), American attorneys experience their fair share of substance abuse and mental health concerns. Their sample revealed that the surveyed attorneys experienced high degrees of depression and anxiety, and significant rates of alcoholism.

In 2021, the Los Angeles Times reported on a 2020 study that included the participation of the California Lawyers Association and the D.C. Bar. The study entitled “Stress, Drink, Leave: An Examination of Gender-Specific Risk Factors for Mental Health Problems and Attrition Among Licensed Attorneys” included similar findings to the one conducted by Krill, Johnson, and Albert. The 2020 study reaffirmed that female attorneys experienced more mental stress (compounded by work-life balance challenges) than their male counterparts. As a result, the 2020 study showed that 1 in 4 female attorneys contemplated leaving the profession. The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession has produced valuable literature on female attorneys, such as conducting its own study on how women of color fare in the legal field.

While they are neither litigants nor attorneys, law library staff can also experience their fair share of stress as outlined in AALL’s 2018 resource “Legal Ease: Self-Care for Library Staff”. Although it is expected that customers will be distressed, it can be a trying task for employees if there is a demand for legal advice or assistance that goes beyond the scope of a law library’s reference services. As quoted, “The very nature of library work predisposes us to burnout. A normal library workday can be described as a continuous round of interruptions”. Some of the stressors mentioned include unmet needs for pro per litigants that cannot afford an attorney, limited resources and staff, and the increasing costs of legal materials. Other factors addressed in the resource include lack of established boundaries between employees, coworkers, and management. Moreover, although the resource does not mention it, there could be the argument that a toxic work environment and workplace bullying could further contribute to a library worker’s stress and burnout.

For information on mental health services in Solano County, you might start your research by viewing this brochure produced by Solano County Behavioral Health. As a reminder, be sure to check out Solano County Library’s mental health kits. You might also consider checking out the social justice book kits, as they address topics such as Native American rights, disability rights, and immigration. If you are unable to check out the kits, you can explore similar materials by using Solano County Library’s databases.

Whether you are a pro per litigant or a legal expert, be sure to visit Solano County Law Library for your legal reference needs!  This blog posting is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for legal advice. Please consult with a legal expert for the best guidance.

“Workplace Bullying and Hostile Work Environments” by Jonathan Watson

With the new year looming, did you know that January 2022 will be Mental Wellness Month? Furthermore, did you know that our parent organization Solano County Library has Mental Health Initiative Kits that you can check out? It is hoped that, in the new year, Solano County Law Library’s blog postings might address various aspects of mental health and wellness from a legal viewpoint.

To kick off the effort, this posting will focus on workplace bullying and hostile work environments. As stated by Ma (2018), workplace bullying may be defined as:

“…‘situations where an employee repeatedly and over a prolonged time period is exposed to harassing behavior from one or more colleagues (including subordinates and leaders) and where the targeted person is unable to defend him-/herself against this systematic mistreatment.’ It is a ‘form of persistent abuse where the exposed employee is submissive to the perpetrator.’”

According to Redman, a bullied employee can experience depression, PTSD, and panic attacks, as well as physical effects such as chronic fatigue syndrome, high blood pressure, and irritable bowel syndrome. How is a hostile work environment defined? To paraphrase sections from California Civil Practice: Employment Litigation (West), there are elements needed to “establish a prima facie case” for a hostile work environment such as the plaintiff being a part of a protected group (e.g., sexual orientation, race, and disability) and the harassment was “sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the plaintiff’s employment…”

The same source describes a scenario in which an employee can create a hostile work environment by engaging in severe or pervasive harassment. Accordingly, if the employer does not want to be held liable under Title VII [42 USC §2000e-2(a)(1)], it would be prudent for them to remove the employee causing the hostile work environment from the workplace. If the employer fails to do so, they have not remedied the harassment. As quoted in the source, according to Cal. Code of Regulation §§7286.6(b) [renumbered as 2 CCR § 11009], “an employer is liable for hostile environment harassment not only by it directly but by supervisors, managers, or agents where committed within the scope of employment or the employment relationship”.  

The piece “The differences between workplace bullying and a “hostile work environment” (The National Law Review, 2020) elaborates on how the legal topics diverge. There are even references to cases such as Turley v. ISG Lackawanna Inc. et al. in which the plaintiff was awarded $25 million due to the racist treatment that he experienced that was not stopped by his employer.

To research more on these legal concepts, be sure to visit Solano County Law Library and explore our print and electronic resources. You can also view self-help resources such as Your Rights in the Workplace via Legal Information Reference Center at either Solano County Law Library (in-person) or Solano County Library (online access available with a Solano County Library card). The information provided in this posting is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal advice. Please consult with a legal expert for the best guidance.