AN ASPIRING human rights barrister is set to travel on the trip of a lifetime to support inmates on Death Row.
Chloe Ashley, of Malvern, has launched her own fund-raising campaign in a bid to send herself to Houston, Texas, in September to intern on behalf of legal charity Amicus, which deal with people facing the death penalty.
The 25-year-old is hoping to rake in £2,200, after already securing £3,000 in funding, to undertake the 4,000-mile trip.
Chloe said: “Completing an Amicus internship is an unequivocal choice for me, it offers the opportunity to do something genuinely of use to society, helping those who need it most.
“Whatever your view on capital punishment, criminal cases are by their nature serious and complex legal proceedings and as a field of law it constantly changes.
“It is vitally important that prisoners on death row are properly represented. It is this issue which often causes the most problems.
“The quality of representation in a capital trial is literally a matter of life and death.”
Amicus are a legal charity representing those facing the death penalty in America and was founded in 1992 in memory of Andrew Lee Jones, who was ‘wrongly executed’ by the state of Louisiana.
Chloe will be assisting lawyers in providing legal representation.
“Amicus believe the death penalty is disproportionately imposed on the most vulnerable in society, violating their right to due process and the concept of equal justice before the law,” she added.
“Their mission therefore is to provide better access to justice for those who could not otherwise afford it.
“They believe they can make the greatest difference through active involvement in frontline work, in particular, by sending legally qualified interns like me to support attorney’s work in the USA.”
Visit www.gofundme.com/sendmetodeathrow to help fund Chloe’s trip.
