By Abigail Sanseri
While my assignment this summer was with the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (“ODPP”), the work I did in the prisons was some of the most impactful work I’ve done. Prior to the week of the Prison Project, I visited Luzira Upper with Scott Leist and a fellow intern. Scott gave us some brief training on filling out plea forms and talking to clients before we dove into our assignment: plea bargaining. With help from Scott and Timothy, a state attorney for the ODPP, I negotiated several aggravated robbery and assault cases that day.
The following week I arrived at the Silver Springs Hotel where all the interns and Pepperdine staff stayed during the week of the Prison Project. On Monday morning I woke up around 6:30 AM to get ready, eat breakfast, and get on the bus to go to the prison. There are two prisons: Kampala Remand and Luzira Upper. I spent three days at Kampala Remand where I worked with a team negotiating lower-level offenses, such as theft, public nuisance, and simple assault. I also spent one day in Luzira, where my team and I negotiated more serious offenses—aggravated robbery and rape—to name a few. Each of the teams was composed of two attorneys—a U.S. attorney and a Ugandan advocate—and two or more law students—two UCU students and me.
The plea bargaining itself involved checking out a file from the Secretariat, reading the file with my team, calling and interviewing the client, and then a series of negotiations with the state attorney. The process varied from case to case. In some cases, clients, once they understood plea bargaining, decided to wait for trial instead of entering a guilty plea. In others, the state attorney would contact the victim, and the victims wishes would change the trajectory of the negotiations. Some victims wanted money, such as victims of theft. Others wanted time served—for fear of the offender being released and endangering them—or because they believed it was just.
Ultimately, the Prison Project was both memorable and impactful. I gained practical experience reading case files, talking to clients, and negotiating with prosecutors. I also got to know the clients and prison staff that I worked with. I won’t soon forget the collective work and desire of the prison staff, prosecutors and my team to serve justice.
This post was written by a student at Regent University School of Law. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.