Judiciary exchange marks new territory for Missouri partnership

Story courtesy of the Missouri National Guard

ST. LOUIS (6/23/09) -- The Missouri National Guard recently conducted its first State Partnership Program judiciary exchange, which focused on the judiciary and rule of law here.

State partnership director Lt. Col. Rebecca Segovia-Johnson said such events are key to building and maintaining a successful relationship that began in 1996.

"The Missouri State Partnership Program both establishes and strengthens existing partnerships in a way that is mutually beneficial to both Panama and the Missouri National Guard," she said. "It promotes security, stability and prosperity by focusing on building cooperation between civilian-to-military and non-governmental organizations."

The goal of the judicial exchange was to orient Panamanian judicial officials on the Missouri judicial system. By becoming more familiar with one another, they hope to identify future areas of interest for building partnership capacity between the Missouri National Guard and Panama in support of the Department of Defense and combatant commander efforts.

Melissa Flynn, attorney and liaison from the U.S. embassy in Panama accompanied: Dr. Luis M. Adames, chief attorney for the Ministry of Government and Justice; Virginia Osorio, an attorney with the Ministry of Government and Justice; and Jose Ayu Prado, a judicial branch prosecutor, who specializes in organized crime prosecutions.

The group received a tour of the federal and state court system in Missouri. At the federal courts, the group sat in on a sentencing hearing in the appellate and trial courts and received a briefing on the U.S. Marshals Service mission and toured their command center.

At the state courts, the group was briefed on the St. Louis' drug court and sat in on drug court proceedings. They also toured the city jail, which is physically connected to the state court through a walkway, and were shown the detention process from intake to sentencing and transfer.

On the social side, the group visited the Gateway Arch and saw a Cardinals baseball game. The Cardinals arranged for them to be on the field before the game.

Col. Cassie Strom of the Missouri Air National Guard said she believes the Guard Judge Advocate General Corps is ideally situated to advance rule of law initiatives that further the theater commanders' objectives through the State Partnership Program.

The partnership currently has four additional events scheduled for the remainder of this fiscal year, including Aerospace/Airplane Tactics currently underway in St. Joseph and ending June 26 in Arizona; a civilian first responder course from July 6-10 in Columbia and Jefferson City; a counterdrug program from Aug. 10-14 in Panama; and vehicle maintenance from Aug. 24-29 in Panama.

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