Octavio Rodríguez (Program Coordinator, Justice in Mexico), Janice Deaton (OASIS Training Course Director), Dr. David Shirk (Director, Justice in Mexico) at the Alumni Honors Celebration
05/13/16 (written by vvozarova) – On April 30th, the University of San Diego hosted its annual Alumni Honors Celebration. This year, Justice in Mexico’s OASIS Training Course Director, Janice Deaton, was selected as the honoree for the Author E. Hughes Career Achievement Award from the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies. The other nine honorees recognized at the ceremony included University of San Diego alumni who have contributed exceptional achievements to their community.
Ms. Deaton graduated from the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies in 2010. She earned a Master’s degree in Peace and Justice Studies, with an emphasis in human rights and a focus on Mexico and Guatemala. She was born in San Diego, but shares a love for Mexico’s people and culture. She also lived in Tijuana for some time and, as she likes to point out, her status in Tijuana was one of “illegal immigrant”.
Her previous career achievements include establishing the nonprofit spiritual center Corazón Global, in La Cacho, Tijuana, Mexico. She successfully led this organization from 2006 until 2010 when local residents began management of the center. In most of her criminal cases she serves as a court-appointed attorney to represent low-income or indigent clients.
In an effort to create a more transparent legal system, she serves as Justice in Mexico’s Training Course Director of the OASIS (Oral Adversarial Skill-Building Immersion Seminar) program, which trains law professors and students in oral trial skills, ethics and investigation at the Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). The program is intended to provide trainings to advance the implementation of Mexico’s new criminal justice system. The program will assist in Mexico’s transition to a new oral, adversarial and accusatory criminal justice system by helping law professors and students to develop knowledge and skills in the development of statements, presentation of evidence at trial, and other oral advocacy skills. Over the past two years, the OASIS program has trained 466 UNAM law students and law professors and will train over 240 more in 2017.
At USD, Ms. Deaton also serves as a member of the Advisory Council for the school’s Trans-Border Institute and she co-teaches a workshop with William Headley, CSSp, Ph.D. at the Kroc School entitled “Transformation of a Peace builder”. She also remains an active member of the State of Guanajuato’s School of Judicial Studies and Investigation in Mexico and a member of the Advisory Board of the San Diego Museum of Man’s Border Crossing Project.
Sources:
“University of San Diego Alumni Honors.” The University of San Diego. Web. 13 May, 2016.
