Fulbright Scholar Benjamin Hill '07 Studies the Effects of Gang Violence in Honduras
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Ben leads a discussion on gangs for orphaned teenaged boys and a group of American college students on a spring break mission trip at the "El Hogar" orphanage. |
The past year has been an eventful one for returning 3L Benjamin Hill.
Using his Fulbright Scholarship, he traveled to Honduras to work for 10
months on a research project of his own design, which focused on how an
anti-gang law enacted in 2003 has affected the criminal justice system
in Tegucigalpa, the capitol of Honduras.
Enacted in 2003, the law criminalizes gang membership, and has been used
by police and military officers to arrest thousands of suspected gang
members, often en masse. One facet of Benjamin’s research involved
compiling statistics on how many arrests, prosecutions, and convictions
had resulted due to the law’s passage. In addition, he interviewed
gang members and former gang members to see how the law affected gang
mentality.
“Gangs are a big problem in Central American countries like Honduras,
partly because of the inefficiencies of the police and criminal justice
systems, and partly because of poor economies leading individuals into
crime as a means of livelihood,” Benjamin said.
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Ben and his colleagues, some of whom are former gang members, receive diplomas after completing a seminar on gang rehabilitation at "Proyecto Victoria" (Project Victoria), a rehabilitation center outside of Tegucigalpa. |
While he notes that the general public’s sentiment is that the law has been highly effective in reducing gang violence, his research would indicate otherwise. “Gangs in Honduras are like our al Qaeda, in that the threat is real, and people are afraid; as a result the executive branch has pushed through security laws that are politically popular, but at the same time ultimately ineffective,” said Benjamin.
Benjamin’s work extended beyond research into advocacy. He worked with Casa Alianza, a nonprofit organization well-known in Honduras for its activism in human rights, particularly the rights of children. He helped them with their investigations into extrajudicial killings of children. “These investigations put pressure on the government to take responsibility,” Benjamin says, “for not protecting children. They show that gangs are not the only source of violence, and that the anti-gang law has not helped to protect children.”
Although it is difficult to prepare oneself for an experience in a developing country, he was able to apply the legal principles he was taught at Moritz. The strong theoretical foundation in criminal legal theory he received in Professor Joshua Dressler’s Criminal Law class, for example, made it easier for him to analyze a criminal justice system different from ours.
Living in Tegucigalpa, Benjamin met “some of the most amicable
and selfless people in the world,” and he is confident he will maintain
the friendships he made in the years to come. His experience in researching
public policies regarding gangs has made him realize the importance communication
and cooperation play in remedying what he classifies as “a truly
international problem.” He says, “One thing that is widely
known, and somehow widely forgotten, is that problems are solved by people
talking to other people, and that is what the Fulbright Program is all
about.”
Benjamin says his experience in Honduras makes him approach the 2006-2007
school year from a “completely different perspective.” Thanks
to the support he received from friends, professors, and administrators
at Moritz, he was witness to the struggles faced by people in a developing
nation. As an attorney, he will be even more empowered to bring about
the change he would like to see in the world.
