4 Days in Prison

Most college students look forward to Spring Break to get some sunshine, hang with their friends and “check out.”

A couple of weeks ago, seven law students used their spring break a little differently, they came from the US to participate in a Prison Project with the Pepperdine Sudreau Global Justice Institute. They paid their own way. They dealt with jet lag. They drove hundreds of kilometers on potholed Ugandan roads. They slept in modest accommodations and spent 4 long days working in the hot dirt courtyard of a Ugandan Prison.

They were part of a larger group comprised of Ugandan lawyers and law students that came to serve accused persons in the prison. Each American student joined a small team with an experienced Ugandan lawyer and a Ugandan law student or two. They would connect with a prisoner who wanted help and thereafter try to negotiate the matter to resolution with a prosecution team. If they reached an agreement, judges were present inside the prison to accept the agreement, finalize the case and impose a sentence.

The Chief Justice of the Uganda Supreme Court along with other high-level leaders in the Uganda Judiciary also made the drive. There was an “opening ceremony” covered by most of the Ugandan media.

It is difficult to describe the days. Dozens of defense lawyers, prosecutors, students, judicial staff, judges, prison guards and dignitaries engaged in a chaotic exercise that I describe as “legal triage” where those most in need of help receive it. The group resolved cases but also created a great training ground for law students and Ugandan legal community to understand the value of Plea Bargaining to resolve cases and reduce prison overcrowding.

Scott has done several of these. This was my first Prison Project.

Over the course of 4 very warm days, seated under tarps on rickety plastic chairs and jury-rigged tables, the team reviewed 487 cases.

487 men and women who had been trapped in prison for months or years. Most had never been to Court because of COVID.

487 souls without an advocate or even someone to whom they could tell their story. 487 of the forgotten.

Our teams sat down with each of those 487 inmates, read through their file and negotiated with prosecutors to help bring the case to some sort of resolution. By the end of the week, 349 of those cases were resolved. Some began serving lengthy sentences. Seven cases were dismissed completely. Those men are already home and trying to restart their lives.

Another non-lawyer and I manned the “Secretariat,” which was administrative center of the operation, where we tracked cases, assigned files, helped complete paperwork and moved cases along. We touched and read every single file.

Watching these volunteer American law students and their Ugandan compatriots was inspiring. They never stopped and never complained. But after dinner each night, we did a group “debrief” where everyone had an opportunity to process the “highs” and “lows” of the day.

I have a list of my own:

• Watching an inmate learn that his case was being dismissed and that he would be released in just a few days.

• Watching Katie (a Pepperdine student) sit in the dust in her professional linen dress playing games with the children of some female inmates who were waiting for their cases to be reviewed.

• Watching Hasley (another Pepperdine student) crouch fearlessly among dozens of inmates patiently trying to explain the options for a confused remandee.

• Watching teams of US and Ugandan students work together across cultures for the best of the defendants and their victims.

• Watching inmates who began as translators for other remandees slowly realize that maybe their case could be resolved too.

• Watching Tyra (another Pepperdine student) tirelessly confirm that one of her clients was actually a juvenile at the time of the crime until she succeeded in securing a reduced sentence due to his age.

• Watching murder charges be dropped for an inmate who actually was the juvenile victim of a beating and was rounded up when his friends came to his defense and accidently killed the perpetrator.

• Watching Alan (Pepperdine’s West Africa Director) obtain a court order authorizing a mental evaluation and treatment for a clearly incompetent remandee (an exceedingly difficult task and an equally rare outcome).

All of these stories are imprinted on my heart but one will stay with me forever:

While I was sitting at a table in the prison courtyard, Richard (2 weeks from becoming a full-fledged Ugandan Attorney) came up to me, put his file on the table and very dejectedly said, “It collapsed.” What happened? “He didn’t agree to the sentence.”

Richard slumped into a plastic chair next to my work station. He described how his client was charged with Defilement (rape) of a 5-year old. The defendant is HIV+ and infected the victim who must now take medication for the rest of her life. Richard was crushed because the defendant did not seem to understand the severity of his crime. He had no care for his victim. As an advocate, Richard felt that he had failed.

During our subsequent discussion, Richard and I agreed that many of these remandees were guilty, some of especially terrible crimes. The Plea Bargaining process helps them take responsibility and begin serving their sentence. But the Plea Bargaining process also helps identify cases that the State cannot prove as well as those remandees who have already served an appropriate sentence and simply need to have the paperwork processed so they can be released.

Richard was the first advocate to sit with this inmate and discuss the severity of his offense.

Richard is a skilled defense attorney and was an amazing advocate for the man accused of Defilement. But Richard also understood that part of his role was to help the accused understand the nature of his crime and the damage it caused to the victim. Not only did Richard believe he had failed his client, he also believed he had failed the victim.

“What is her name?” I asked. Richard opened the file and there was a picture of a beautiful 5 year old girl. Richard haltingly asked, “What can we do? How can we advocate for her?”

Almost instinctively, we both put our hands on her picture. There in the courtyard with lawyers and prisoners swirling around us, we bowed our heads and prayed. “Please Jesus, protect and heal ______. You know her trauma and wounds. You know the life you have for her. Please give her the resources she needs to grow and heal. Please surround her with family who will love and support her and teachers who will equip her to move beyond her scars and sickness. We set this lovely child at your feet and ask you to watch over her. Amen.”

It was a moment I will remember for the rest of my life.

I pray that someday Richard will meet ______ in heaven with wounds healed and hearts mended.