TEACHER’
Isat Buchanan, the human rights crusader who has taken over Kartel’s case
Ace can’t cool you when you have on the robe,” he said laughing.
“My ultimate goal practising law is to help my fellow Jamaicans to know their constitutional rights and to learn that they are to be treated with respect from the creatures of the constitution that are put in Government to serve us,” he said.
“My hope is to contribute to the legal landscape and hopefully bring us to a place where we can empower the community and the victims of crime and violence in such a way that justice is served not by locking away young people and turning them into criminals, destroying their futures for mistakes that need not close doors to their advancement in life.”
AMAZING CHILDHOOD
Buchanan, a Constant Spring, St Andrew native, described his childhood as amazing. “I could not have had life any better,” said the son of veteran toaster Big Youth and Dr Joan Porteous. “One thing for certain, they taught me and my brothers and sisters not to let anyone kill our dreams or to fall into the norm, always serve God and uplift humanity,” he said.
“They spoilt me then and my father spoils me twice as much now,” he added, noting that his name ‘Isat’ was chosen by his father because of its meaning – ‘The Great One.’
Whilst practising law is equally as amazing as his childhood, he cannot forget the abundance of potholes he had to jump over. However, one of those potholes almost swallowed him alive.
“My most challenging experience thus far is my legal battle with the custos of Kingston. I was commissioned by the governor general to be a justice of the peace but my stamp and instrument were personally held by the custos, as he feels that I am not fit to help poor people, and represent the Queen in that capacity. I still do my best to assist the public at large, hoping for social change.”
Before that, Buchanan was locked up in 1996 after being stopped at the Norman Manley International airport after the authorities found drug in his possession. He said a neighbour had asked him to deliver some cash to someone in the United States. He was eventually convicted and paid a fine of approximately $1 million. And in 1999, Buchanan said he was on a flight to Florida in the United States, when a quantity of drugs was found in the possession of another passenger. He said that the passenger directed authorities to him, saying that he was the person responsible. Buchanan was given a 10-year prison sentence as, according to him, authorities in the US formed the view that the incident was a continuing act from his drug case in Jamaica and that he had got off easy.
Buchanan immersed himself in legal work while serving his sentence, and following his return to Jamaica he enrolled at the Mona campus of The University of the West Indies, and was called to the Bar in 2017.
“Honestly, I love the law and I am passionate about helping people find justice and educating people about their human rights. It has been an amazing journey thus far. I have been blessed to be in the company of some of Jamaica’s finest legal minds, and it can never hurt when you can always call Bert.”