Post written by Brenna Streeter – IJM Uganda and the Ultimate Mission
My name is Brenna Streeter, and I am a first-year student at Regent University School of Law. It is truly a blessing to serve others through the Center.
I have had the privilege of working on a project for the International Justice Mission (IJM) Uganda.
IJM Uganda seeks to protect women and children from violence in Uganda. The Center’s mission in partnering with IJM Uganda is to provide valuable resources to lawyers and aids.
Plea Bargain Memorandum
My team and I were provided with a new opportunity to write a memorandum highlighting the effects of plea bargaining on intimate partner violence (IPV) and child violence in Uganda compared to the West. Plea bargaining allows a defendant or wrongdoer to plead guilty to a crime for a shorter or alternate sentence. Plea bargaining is relatively new to Uganda, so the long-term effects on crime are largely unknown. I was assigned to conduct research and write on the impact of plea bargaining in the European Union. The form that plea bargaining takes in the EU is varied, and, at a glance, the effect it has on IPV and violence against children is mixed.
As I research the horrific crimes of human sin, I am reminded of the Prayer of Saint Francis and our ultimate mission as Christians and prospective lawyers. The Prayer of St. Francis is a call to be an instrument in working towards God’s eternal peace. While it is not easy to read or write on the issue of violence against the most vulnerable in this world, the Center truly prepares its staff to be an instrument for good in the hand of God.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.O Divine master grant that I may
The Prayer of Saint Francis
Not so much seek to be consoled as to console.
To be understood, as to understand.
To be loved, as to love.
For it’s in giving that we receive,
and it’s in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it’s in dying that we are born…
to eternal life.
This post was written by a Center for Global Justice student staff member. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.