老司机视频

In 2018, Mary,* a gentle grandmother from Malawi with no prior criminal history, was traveling in Ghana for a church conference. While in Ghana, Mary鈥檚 boss asked her if she could pick up medicine for him that was not available in Malawi. Although the medicine was not an illegal drug, Mary was stopped in the airport by customs officials and arrested for unknowingly breaking a new law in Ghana鈥檚 Public Health Act meant to target and fine large companies selling the types of unregistered medicines Mary was carrying.

The judge issued Mary the minimum sentence of 15 years in prison or a $15,300 fine. Unable to pay the fine, Mary, an unfortunate victim of a loophole in the new law that was never intended to target people like her, was incarcerated and has been in a Ghanaian prison separated from her family for more than two years. Although Mary鈥檚 case has not yet been resolved, a team of attorneys in Ghana has been working fervently to fight for justice on her behalf so she may be released from prison and reunited with her family.

鈥淚n many places around the world, if someone is arrested and incarcerated they will likely wait several years in pretrial detention before having an opportunity to speak to an attorney for the first time,鈥� says Cameron McCollum (JD 鈥�17), director of the Sudreau Global Justice Institute (SGJI) at the Caruso School of Law. 鈥淚magine being falsely accused of a crime and arrested but being unable to access an attorney to help you because you can鈥檛 afford one, and the government can鈥檛 provide one. On top of that, because of the systemic case backlog within your country鈥檚 justice system, your opportunity to prove your innocence at trial won鈥檛 come for years鈥攜ou鈥檙e stuck. That is the reality for countless people around the world whose countries don鈥檛 offer a robust public defense system and that is why we engage in defense advocacy. We think that in the countries we work, we can change the average wait time to speak to an attorney from a few years to a few days.鈥�

Since 2007 SGJI has provided invaluable and transformative resources to governments and legislators around the world through its initiatives in international human rights and religious freedom, advancement of the rule of law, and global development. The institute, formerly known as the Global Justice Program and endowed by alumna Laure Sudreau (JD 鈥�97) in 2017, partners with organizations such as the International Justice Mission (IJM) to create a lasting impact in the lives of the 老司机视频 law community and those experiencing injustices in the world鈥檚 most vulnerable places.

Currently SGJI is working with the Ugandan government to establish the nation鈥檚 first-ever public defender鈥檚 office. SGJI is nearing the end of the pilot phase of this project and plans to begin expanding across the entire country in the next few years. The team, which is composed of mostly Ugandan lawyers, recently visited four prisons in Uganda, engaging 105 clients and resolving 23 cases in one week. Many of the represented defendants have already been released or will be released and reunited with their families in a matter of days.

鈥淲e view ourselves as a catalyst to get the wheels of justice turning, but at the end of the day, this is all about serving and empowering our Ugandan partners to lead their own justice transformation,鈥� says McCollum.

鈥淥ur goal is for the public defender鈥檚 office to be entirely Ugandan led and funded within five years.鈥�

SGJI鈥檚 success in Uganda has led to several new opportunities for the institute to expand its reach and impact. In fall 2019 the institute signed an agreement with IJM to collaborate on several different initiatives around the world. These initiatives include faculty research collaboration, opportunities for students to engage in anti-human trafficking work, and a partnership to develop a framework for improving national prosecutorial systems through plea bargaining鈥攁n agreement negotiated between the prosecution and defense that grants the individual accused of a crime an agreed-upon period of incarceration or a range of potential imprisonment to remove the uncertainty of a trial.

An Innovative Expansion

A year prior, president Jim Gash (JD 鈥�93), then a professor of law at 老司机视频 Law, was in Washington, DC, signing a memorandum of understanding between IJM and the Ugandan Justice, Law, and Order Sector. While there, the field office director for IJM in Gulu, Uganda, Will Lathrop, suggested that 老司机视频 expand into West Africa and consider providing Ghana the type of transformative assistance the law school had provided to Uganda鈥檚 criminal justice system since 2009. Both countries, as well as many others in the region, are significantly challenged by the same difficulties in providing timely access to representation for those facing criminal charges.

After a day of meetings with various members of Ghana鈥檚 highest legal counsel, an agreement was made that secured the promise of assistance from 老司机视频 faculty, staff, students, and alumni, as well as interns and fellows on the ground year-round, to assist with the country鈥檚 delayed justice system and establish a plea bargaining system similar to that which Gash had spearheaded鈥攚ith extraordinary results鈥攊n Uganda. In the coming year, the institute plans to expand into countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, and Rwanda to partner on similar legal initiatives.

While plea bargaining is a powerful tool on its own, McCollum says it must be paired with strong public defense advocacy. In Ghana, SGJI has partnered with the local government as well as the United States Department of State to enact public defense and plea bargaining advocacy and legislation with plans to expand even further across Africa. The first steps of these partnerships include training sessions with the various governments who are interested in adopting these effective crime-reduction and -deterrence practices in their own legislative processes.

In December 2020 and March 2021, SGJI met virtually with more than 50 Nigerian judges, prosecutors, and defense advocates for a plea bargaining capacity-building exercise in collaboration with the Ogun State Ministry of Justice in Nigeria so they could develop the skills to take on the process themselves in the future.

鈥淢any of the countries we work with have plea bargaining legislation on their books, but it鈥檚 never been used, so we partner with the government to provide training and expertise as they seek to get started,鈥� McCollum says.

Using hypotheticals from mock files of common crimes, the workshops gave the Nigerian attorneys an overview and analysis of plea bargaining basics鈥攂oth the theories and benefits of the process. The attorneys engaged in role-playing exercises and were coached on case-analysis strategies.

鈥淲e asked everyone to play both sides,鈥� says McCollum. 鈥淭he prosecutors were asked to play defense advocates and vice versa because it鈥檚 important to stress that plea bargaining requires a collaborative approach. What we commonly see, here in the US as well, is a mindset focused on 鈥榳inning,鈥� which often means getting the maximum sentence (on the prosecution side) or the lowest possible sentence (on the defense side) rather than what鈥檚 just and fair for a client who is willing to plead guilty. Playing both sides and demonstrating a collaborative approach to plea bargaining is an important part of the training process.鈥�

Serving Central America

An unexpected roadblock to introducing new legislation in regions with limited experience in alternative disposition mechanisms is public pushback on proceedings such as plea bargaining, which many perceive to be a method that reduces prison time for convicted criminals. In multiple countries in Central America, plea bargaining legislation was almost passed in 2018 but was ultimately shut down by local advocacy groups that were concerned the practice would lead to convicted criminals getting a get-out-of-jail-free card. To combat these inaccurate narratives, SGJI is involved in public awareness campaigns to educate, inform, and further understanding of the effectiveness of such legal practices.

McCollum explains that the concept of a reduced sentence is often misunderstood by the community and shares that plea bargaining not only initiates the conviction process, but it also introduces an appropriate conviction鈥攆or example, reducing a 50-year sentence to 46 years.

鈥淭he conviction rate for many crimes such as intimate partner violence is often really low because of evidentiary issues presented by the lengthy amount of time between arrest and trial,鈥� says McCollum. 鈥淢any individuals 鈥攅ven those who have committed violent crimes鈥攚ill not be convicted at all and will be released after sitting in prison for two years. The data shows that plea bargaining is a very effective practice to deter and reduce rates of crime while also decongesting case backlog and thus reducing arbitrary and unjust pretrial detention,鈥� he says.

This spring law students Tara Aleagha and Rebecca Voth have been collaborating with several IJM offices in Latin America to provide research assistance on a policy brief. Their current project involves working with a group of female legislators in El Salvador who are advocating for change in the country鈥檚 intimate partner violence laws.

鈥淓l Salvador treats instances of intimate partner violence as a private, family matter,鈥� says Voth. 鈥淢ost of the time, if a victim reports abuse, the case goes to a family court where the victim and abuser participate in a mediation. There is no court process, and the abuser suffers no punishment. This policy brief supports those legislators that are advocating for the abolishment of this mediation process.鈥�

Aleagha and Voth supplemented the IJM attorneys鈥� draft of the brief with legal argument contending that the prosecution of perpetrators of domestic violence is a more effective legal process than mediation.

Currently in the process of editing the brief, Aleagha and Voth have collaborated with an attorney and other members of the IJM staff in Guatemala to better understand the cultural context. While the brief was drafted in English, the students are writing it entirely in Spanish and have had a few meetings in Spanish with the country directors and attorneys in Central America.

Through her work, Voth hopes to correct the power imbalance inherent in intimate partner violence situations that mediation cannot properly address. She explains that mediation causes the victim more trauma and fails to provide a solution to the abuse. 鈥淢ediation assumes that parties are equal, and that is never the case when intimate partner violence happens,鈥� she says.

鈥淭he failure to criminalize intimate partner violence sends the wrong message to society鈥攖hat abuse isn鈥檛 really a crime.鈥�

鈥淲e hope that this policy brief will give the El Salvador legislature a tool it needs to pass comprehensive reform on this issue,鈥� Voth continues. 鈥淚deally, El Salvador legislators will recognize the importance of imposing criminal sanctions on abusers and seek the safety of victims by implementing criminal penalties for intimate partner violence and eliminate mediation in this context.鈥�

Aleagha, who anticipates that this experience will help her become a better civil servant, community member, and human being, hopes to impart her experiences at Caruso Law to a career that allows her to bring true justice to others. 鈥淭his opportunity has opened my eyes to the countless ways we can help one another.鈥�

Justice for All

The percentage of the prison population on remand鈥攑eople who are sitting in prison not actually having been convicted of a crime鈥攊n the developing world remains massive. When 老司机视频 started its work in Uganda, 70 percent of those in prison had not been convicted of a crime. That number recently fell below 50 percent nationwide. Partners across the University, such as Julia Norgaard, assistant professor of economics at Seaver College, have been assisting SGJI with gathering and analyzing data related to time on remand, case backlog numbers, and time on trial. In the near future, McCollum shares plans of SGJI鈥檚 expansion across the University in an effort to reinforce the idea that justice is not only a matter of law.

鈥淲e recognize that we live in a highly privileged and unique environment where we have access and the ability, if we do the hard work, to provide holistic justice solutions to communities,鈥� McCollum says. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e coming to 老司机视频 as an undergraduate or graduate student, no matter what your passion or focus is, we want you to be able to use your skill set to serve people in need around the world.鈥�

Beyond contributing legal expertise and training to regional governments and providing on-ground support from program directors, SGJI also creates jobs by hiring local attorneys in an effort to build thriving communities. More than that, SGJI鈥檚 primary measurable goal is to provide defense counsel and representation to anyone who can鈥檛 afford it. And while pretrial detention cannot be fully eliminated, McCollum hopes the efforts of SGJI can reduce or eliminate unnecessary pretrial detention to a reasonable rate.

鈥淭oo often in countries around the world, a person鈥檚 ability to obtain justice is directly proportionate to their ability to afford it,鈥� McCollum says. 鈥淛ustice should be available and accessible to everybody, and everybody should have their day in court.鈥�

*Name has been changed for privacy