Gideon’s Army 
Watch Gideon’s Army at this link: https://tubitv.com/
Answer the following questions:
- What are some problems the public defenders experience in the film?
- In what ways, if any, do you see examples of good leadership, poor leadership, or no leadership among the public defenders?
- Discuss the organization of the public defenders’ office (as best you can from what is shown in the film). Given what we’ve discussed in class about organizations in general:
- In what ways, if any, could the organization be improved?
- In what ways is the organization already successful?
- Many of the featured public defenders experience burn out.
- What are some reasons behind this burnout?
- How might better management or better organization prevent this burnout?
- Are there any examples in the film which attempt to prevent burnout?
Solution Preview
Question 1:
The biggest challenge that public defenders face is huge caseloads and inadequate finances. They carry more than 100 cases at any given time, and this means they have to work for long hours to commit to their cases. Some of them have to deal with evil clients who ruin their day like the case of Brandy who had a difficult time handling a child rapist.
(454 words)