My time in New Orleans, Louisiana, was one of the best experiences of my life. I spent 3 months in Louisiana with a team of 9 employees who work on capital cases across the state. The office is welcoming and friendly, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

New Orleans is a vibrant city known for jazz and great food. My walk to work regularly included a pit stop for beignets and an iced latte before hopping onto the St. Charles streetcar. As an intern, I worked on multiple cases and visited Angola State Penitentiary’s Death Row.

For one case, I researched the U.S. education system and the client's test scores to determine whether the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Atkins v. Virginia (2002), would be a viable option for the attorneys. I had to submit an education request to the prison. I sat in on meetings with speech-language pathologists and created memos. Also, I added to a people log of everyone in the client's life, for example, a basketball teacher from elementary school, to interview and follow up with them for questions. I started collecting yearbooks featuring the client's family members (alive or deceased). I recreated the yearbooks and then printed them as booklets to send to the prison.

There were opportunities to visit American courts.  One day, I visited the local criminal district court to watch the American trial system in action. I also accompanied a supervisor to the Louisiana Supreme Court to organise the original trial exhibits. I also visited other offices in Louisiana. I looked through 33 boxes in the law school's storage room for handwritten motions.

I visited Whitney Plantation, which educates the public about slavery. Angola State Penitentiary is nicknamed “the farm” due to the exploitation of labour from incarcerated individuals.  This reinforces the point that the death penalty is a racial issue. I had the chance to attend biweekly ‘brown bag’ meetings at the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center. I heard talks about the death penalty while getting to know the other interns at the other office. We became friends, went to a Saints game together, had happy-hour drinks, went to City Park, and had BBQs. We also went on a swamp tour!

I attended a book launch where I met Sister Helen Prejean. She presented The Jailhouse Lawyer, written by Calvin Duncan, an innocent man incarcerated at the infamous Angola State Penitentiary. Calvin taught himself the law and helped many fellow inmates overturn their convictions. With the help of the Innocence Project of New Orleans, he was released in 2011, after serving more than 28 years. Following his release, he earned a BA from Tulane University at the age of 60.

The food in New Orleans was so good. I wanted to learn how to make it, so I took a cooking class. There’s muffuletta, po-boys, gumbo, jambalaya, and my favourite, crawfish boil. There are over 130 festivals in New Orleans each year, so there was always something going on. Whilst I was there, I attended White Linen Night, Dirty Linen Night, Red Dress Run, and Southern Decadence. There are many bars, especially along Bourbon and Frenchman Street and the famous Preservation Hall. There’s a lot of Voodoo, but the locals say don’t mess with Voodoo...

My colleagues inspired me with their total dedication to their clients. One colleague got married while I was there; he printed off his wedding pictures to take to his clients. He even turned up in Angola in his wedding suit to show the client what he wore. I built strong connections with my colleagues, and I am still in touch with them today. I cannot wait to return to New Orleans.