Week 3 - Legal Aid and My First Jail Visit
This week, I was able to see up close the affect corruption, apathy, and misinformation has on the criminal justice system in India. In the US, we are notified of our rights upon arrest, thanks to Miranda v. Arizona, specifically that one has the right to an attorney before interrogation, and that one will be appointed to you by the court if you cannot afford it. 384 U.S. 436 (1966). This landmark decision forever changed the way criminal procedure advanced, but such a warning is not given to Indians upon their arrest. It could be months before an accused person meets with legal aid, and further meetings are an even scarcer prospect.
Legally speaking, the Indian Constitution and legislature has attempted to address this issue, but even the mandate that citizens have the right to free legal aid fails to work when there are simply not enough resources to attain that ideal. As a citizen-lawyer, the concept of legal aid and service is commonplace, and a necessary part of my legal career. The reason I became a lawyer was to help the less fortunate and give them a small part of the privilege I receive daily. In India, the reason may be that, but more and more the law serves as a way to enter the political arena, and a way to ensure a comfortable life for oneself. The pro bono infrastructure is simply not in place to promote and sustain an impactful volunteer network of lawyers. It was only in 1997 that the Indian Bar Council required Legal Aid to be taught at all law schools, and even then, schools rarely assigned adequate faculty or credit to the course, hampering its effect.
The fact that Legal Aid is a practice that needs teaching here is confusing, and a bit unnerving. From talking to my colleagues at IBJ, the class is usually a small overview of basic criminal procedure and is rarely emphasized. Recently, legal aid clinics have been popping up at law schools around the country, specifically designed to tackle the growing representation problem. IBJ is currently partnered with Bennet University’s Legal Aid Clinic, trying to get students more involved in the pro bono culture and teach them more useful practical skills. Through this partnership, I was able to travel to different jails, along with two interns from Bennet, where IBJ talked to hundreds of incarcerated men and women about legal awareness and prisoner’s rights. Each day, we interacted with around 100 prisoners – I say we, but due to my deficiencies in speaking Hindi, I just kind of smiled and took notes.
When I entered my first prison, I was initially struck by how ornate it looked. Murals, sculptures, and other art installations created a vibrant scene across the beige backdrop of the prison walls. Small palm trees planted along the path, looking out of place on an arid, 105-degree day. In this desert, a small oasis had appeared, but for whom? It seemed just a façade, made to fool onlookers of the plight inside. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures to document it!
After we entered, about 70 women crammed into the room they had set up for us. They were a community, always helping the other and making sure everyone was organized and attentive. One woman came in with an infant, a few others were pregnant; lastly, a young child scampered through, sitting on his mother’s lap in the front row. No fans, no air-conditioning, at three in the afternoon – it was a struggle just to stay alert. Once again, the commitment of the lawyers at IBJ astounded me, as they lectured for close to an hour about the steps the women should be taking before moving on to one-on-one consultations.
This cultural difference stems from the caste system – a conditioned response to ignore the plights of the lower-class. It is the most outdated, yet implicitly allowed system left in India. Inexplicably, and maybe unconsciously, Indians have grown to accept and live by these orders. It is something that has bothered me since I can remember coming here. Next week, I will talk more about the evolution of the caste system, and how it has adapted to all facets of modern India. See below for more information on the growth of Legal Aid in India.