Week Six

Everyone this week was focused on the delegation of representatives from the Kenyan Judiciary that was in town. One of NCSC's ongoing projects is a program called the International Visitors Educational Program (IVEP). The program's mission is to bring representatives from around the world to the United States to learn more about different aspects of our justice sector. 

The group of Kenyan representatives was extremely impressive and included leaders of the Kenyan judicial system, including the top Attorney General of the country. Their week started off with an overview of NCSC and a presentation on the importance of rule of law work. The delegation was excited about the potential opportunity to partner with NCSC to help build up their justice system in Kenya. Over the first four days, they also toured the Supreme Court, the DC District Court, and the Library of Congress. One particular area of interest they had was how our Supreme Court does not allow cameras in the courtroom. The delegation explained that in Kenya, all courtrooms can be televised. They were surprised at how here in the US, cameras in the courtroom would potentially create too much of a show out of the Supreme Court, and the Justices want to preserve the mystical and special feeling of the courtroom. They were also interested in learning about how to engage the younger generations in Kenya's justice sector. Some representatives asked if they should create social media strategies or other communication tools aimed towards younger people, but NCSC pushed back against this. NCSC explained how not everything has to be geared towards younger people, and sometimes it's okay for something to not be trending on social media, especially if that thing is a country's judicial system. It's better to preserve the historic, traditional, and mystic perception of the courts than for the system to engage with a majority of young people. 

After spending a week in DC, the delegation is heading down to NCSC's Headquarters and the W&M Law School in Williamsburg! Unfortunately, I'm not making the trip down with them, but I can't wait to hear what they think of Colonial Williamsburg. It's been fascinating to learn about the relationship between NCSC and the law school, and it makes me proud to be a member of the William & Mary community. I also especially enjoyed working with the delegation, as I could clearly see the tangible results of exchange programs such as IVEP.

Aside from the delegation work, I found myself doing a handful of small assignments to help the team push the final project reports across the finish line for INL. Overall, it was a great week six at NCSC, and I can't believe there's only four more weeks left here.