7/2/18 (Quinn Skerlos) – From June 10 to June 23, 12 administrators, representatives, and law faculty from the Universidad de Guadalajara (UdeG), and Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo Leon (UANL) took part in the first of three 2018 Oral-Adversary Skill-building Immersion (OASIS) study trips at University of San Diego (USD). This group of 12 study trip participants included the deans of the law schools of both the UdeG and UANL, José de Jesús Becerra Ramirez (UdeG) and Oscar Paulino Lugo Serrato (UANL). OASIS Study trips are designed by Justice in Mexico to provide a training and study opportunity for Mexican law professors and students that allows participants to experience the United States criminal justice system. This program is made possible by a grant from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs under the Mérida Initiative.
Under the direction of the OASIS Training Director, Janice Deaton, OASIS Regional Director and USD law professor Allen Snyder, the UdeG and UANL participants met with legal experts, academics and public officials, including judges, professors, and attorneys. While the majority of the study trip was held at USD facilities, the study trip participants also had the opportunity to briefly visit the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law in Los Angeles, CA.
The study trip was comprised of daily sessions on the stages of the United States legal system, which included group debriefs, site visits and meetings with public officials and institutional representatives. OASIS study trip participants had the opportunity to visit both federal and state courts in Los Angeles and San Diego, including the Appellate Court and the Federal Court. The visits were bookended with breakout sessions to discuss relevant legal topics pertinent to the U.S. criminal justice system. Aside from experiencing the foundations of the United States legal system, the group learned about legal topics such as alternative sentencing, separation of powers, and the use of evidence.
The program agenda’s accomplished guest speakers included: Tony Da Silva (Office of the Attorney General), Ruby Anaya (California Western School of Law), Carlos Varela, Luis Guerrero, Janice Deaton (USD), Michael Ramsey (USD), Judge Mitchell D. Dembin (Southern District of California), Professor Allen Snyder (USD School of Law), Associate Dean Margaret Dalton (USD), Judge Lisa Rodriguez (San Diego Superior Court Judge), Dean Stephen Ferruolo (USD), Professor Máximo Langer (UCLA), Professor Rubén Hernández-León (UCLA), Dr. Peter Reich (UCLA), Professor Laura Gómez (UCLA).
