By Janine Anderson
Journal Times | Posted: Sunday, November 16, 2008 12:00 am
RACINE - For six months, Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Arn traded his job here for one in Afghanistan.
Arn, 31, who lives in Milwaukee, has been with the Racine County District Attorney's Office for nearly four years. He primarily prosecutes traffic and misdemeanor cases, with the occasional felony.
A local defense attorney told him that prosecutors were needed to go to Afghanistan to train prosecuting attorneys and criminal investigators there on how the American justice system works. "Not to sound cheesy, but I wanted to help, and thought this would be the best way," he said.
Arn said he had "become sort of a news junkie," following the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I just wanted to get over there and help," he said.
He applied, and got a call from Afghanistan for a telephone interview. By the end of that week, he was in Virginia for training.
Two months later, Arn left for six months in Afghanistan, volunteering with the Justice Sector Support Program, administered through the United States State Department.
He was stationed in Herat, a city in the western part of the country.
"I felt like I took a time machine back to the Old Testament," he said. "Outside of the makeshift TV antennas, there's been no change in 2,000 years. They're still in mud wall houses, they use donkeys and camels to transport."
During his six months in Afghanistan, Arn had 90 students. He worked with two other American attorneys, three translators and three Afghan attorneys to train the prosecutors and investigators.
"Most (Afghan attorneys) had nothing more than a high school education," he said. "No formal legal training."
Arn's six months in Afghanistan were aimed at instructing the attorneys on their duties under the Afghan constitution, which was approved in 2004. They focused on anti-corruption and ethics, along with basic criminal procedures and constitutional law.
"Their job as prosecutors is unique in light of the fact that there are very few defense attorneys," Arn said. "They have to act as officers of the court. If you feel you can't prove it, don't charge. If you've already charged it, dismiss it."
He taught them the importance of having attorneys on both sides.
"They saw the defense as people only there to lie for their client," Arn said. "I gave examples that this was an integral part of the judicial process. They keep the prosecutor in check and make sure you're doing your job."
Dealing with danger
Things in Afghanistan were very different, Arn said, but the adjustment wasn't as difficult as he had expected. The most apparent difference, he said, was the stress level.
"For six months I was basically on edge," he said. "The threat of danger, of something bad happening to me and my team was always pretty close by. We got used to it without being complacent."
There were several mortar attacks on the compound, Arn said.
"The first time, all I remember is running to the bunker in my bare feet on the rocks," he said. "The times it happened after that, it became more nonchalant. It's something you learn to deal with."
When he returned home, he had to deal with reverse culture shock.
"It was a struggle to adjust to being able to walk out on the street without a bulletproof vest and five guys with M4s surrounding me," he said.
He returned home on Sept. 21, and was back at work the next week.
Back for almost two months now, Arn said he has a new appreciation for the justice system here.
"Being over there, I think, I know it really confirmed for me that our justice system is the best criminal justice system in the world," he said. "It may not seem efficient, but it is the model the world wants to follow."