“We are bridges for one another, our families, communities and societies. We are the light that exposes the way towards true freedom and justice. I believe that we are what the world is waiting for.” – Latif, New York – Jailhouse Lawyer

On October 15-17, 2024, the Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative housed at the Bernstein Institute for Human Rights at NYU School of Law is hosting Flashlights: Jailhouse Lawyers, Legal Empowerment and Building a Just World Together, a historic convening of jailhouse lawyers in dialogue with justice allies that illuminates the power and promise of legal empowerment to advance justice from the inside out.

For too long the loudest voices against mass incarceration have come from outside prison walls. Flashlights seeks to change this. This first of its kind gathering calls on the public to shift their gaze inward to prisons and jails across the country and hear directly from jailhouse lawyers–invisible defenders who have been pursuing justice from behind prison walls.  Jailhouse lawyers are incarcerated individuals who teach themselves the law to advocate for themselves and the rights of their peers. They operate in deep isolation, with access to few resources at a high risk of retaliation for simply doing legal work. Despite these challenges, they have had a profound impact on the legal landscape of America, freeing their peers from incarceration, serving as counselors, mentors and teachers to their incarcerated community members and their families, and doing so with extraordinary humanity and resilience.  Jailhouse lawyers are an essential part of reforming and abolishing the carceral system, and yet their stories are rarely known. Flashlights seeks to change this.

Rooted in legal empowerment, Flashlights makes visible the transformative possibilities that come from shifting power, knowledge, and resources to directly affected communities so they can know, use, and shape the law. In so doing, directly impacted communities activate systems, lead justice struggles, and become the authors of their own liberation. During this groundbreaking gathering, jailhouse lawyers will be in conversation with educators, advocates, artists, researchers and more as they reflect on how legal empowerment and jailhouse lawyering advances justice from the inside out. Speakers will reflect on the role of jailhouse lawyers as human rights defenders, dialogue on effective inside-out strategies, share thoughts on building international solidarity and voice, interrogate the unique experiences of women jailhouse lawyers, and explore how jailhouse lawyers in collaboration with allies are changing the way law is practiced within law schools, on the streets, and in the courtrooms.

We hope you can join us as we build a more just and inclusive world together.

In solidarity,

Jhody Polk, Founder / Director, Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative
Sukti Dhital, Executive Director, Bernstein Institute for Human Rights
Tyler Walton, Deputy Director, Bernstein Institute for Human Rights

We would like to thank the Bernstein Institute team of staff, consultants, fellows and interns for their incredible support of the convening: gabriela Piñeros Medina, Sophia Opferman, Christine Eldabh, Darren Breeden, chinyere okafor, Ruby Ecker-Wylie, Uzma Sherieff, Ambrose Reed and Stephanie Katsias. Special thanks to gabriela for her tireless logistical and administrative support in bringing the conference to life, and Margaret Satterthwaite, our Faculty Director, for her wisdom, leadership and deep commitment to community justice.

This event has been approved to offer 9.5 CLE credits in the category of Areas of Professional Practice and 1 CLE credit in the category of Ethics & Professionalism. The credit is both transitional and non-transitional; it is appropriate for both experienced and newly admitted attorneys.

Conference Schedule of Events

Conference Day 1: Tuesday, October 15

8:30-9:30 AM EST, Breakfast and Registration

9:30-11:00 AM EST, Legal Empowerment and Jailhouse Lawyering – Advancing Justice from the Inside Out

This opening panel will collectively construct a framework on how legal empowerment and  jailhouse lawyering advance justice from the inside out. Presenters will reflect on their lived experience and expertise as jailhouse lawyers and justice allies to shed light on the power of  collaboration, use of participatory legal processes, and an ethic of care as essential tools to reforming and abolishing the carceral system, and building a just world together. 

11:15-12:45 PM EST, Jailhouse Lawyers are Human Rights Defenders

Panelists will examine the role of jailhouse lawyers and other incarcerated advocates as Human Rights Defenders who protect the human rights of millions of incarcerated people in the United States and around the world. Speakers will reflect on how these inside advocates regularly face violence and retaliation for doing just legal work, and underline the need for recognition, respect, and dignity. 

12:45-1:45 PM EST, Lunch

1:45-3:15 PM EST,  International Incarcerated Paralegal Congress: Global Opportunities for Learning, Solidarity and Advocacy

Panelists will reflect on the absence of current and formerly incarcerated voices in UN and other global policy spaces that directly impact the lives of incarcerated people. Members of the newly formed International Incarcerated Paralegal Congress (IIPC) will share how the IIPC seeks to change this reality and expound on their collective vision for a more inclusive and just ecosystem. 

3:30-5:00 PM EST, Coming Home: Bringing Knowledge and Power Back to Community

Jailhouse lawyers build identity, knowledge, and leadership through their years of legal practice while incarcerated. Coming home is still not easy due to collateral consequences to incarceration and restrictive policies like overly broad unauthorized practice of law regulations. This panel will explore the way that community members are carving their own new paths upon returning home and opening doors for those who follow. 

Conference Day 2: Wednesday, October 16, 2024

10:00 AM-1:00 PM EST, JLI Workshop: Creative Spaces to Break Down Walls and Build Community

Join us as we bring jailhouse lawyers in conversation with conference attendees by building bridges and community across prison walls. The workshop will be a space to dialogue with currently incarcerated jailhouse lawyers through live phone calls, reading of letters, and reflection on their visions and demands for a more just future. 

6:00-8:00 PM EST,  Flashlights Launch

The JLI in partnership with Zealous will be launching Flashlights – a first of its kind digital archive that introduces the world to jailhouse lawyers through a powerful collection of letters, poems and art created by JLI’s jailhouse lawyer members. The launch will be a historic gathering of jailhouse lawyers, in dialogue with artists, educators, advocates, and more. The launch will be an immersive, inclusive space where attendees will be encouraged to explore the archive through audio and video recording stations.  The event will also host an interactive panel of leading justice-impacted advocates and allies to discuss the history and impact of jailhouse lawyering, while also imagining a more inclusive future rooted in dignity, respect, and recognition. 

Conference Day 3: Thursday, October 17, 2024

9:00-9:30 AM EST, Breakfast and Registration

9:30-11:00 AM EST, Inside/Outside: Teaching, Organizing and Solidarity Across the Prison Wall

Community building, organizing, advocacy, and education are all key strategies for social justice movements. The physical and metaphorical presence of prison walls complicates these foundational tools used by communities.  Speakers will discuss how their own movements and communities have learned and deployed inside/out strategies to build community, mobilize, and demand a just future within and across prison walls. 

11:15AM- 12:45 PM EST, Women Jailhouse Lawyers: Gender, Justice and the Law

This panel will uncover and uplift the unique experiences of women jailhouse lawyers. Panelists will explore profound questions together–from the meaning of “gender” “justice”, “law” and “community,” to the ways incarcerated women navigate discrimination and create tools to resist and advance justice for themselves and their community. Panelists will reflect on their roles as sisters, mothers, bridges, and more–and explore how justice-impacted women can take hold of their healing journeys toward humanization, wholeness, and spiritual wellbeing. 

12:45-1:45 PM EST, Lunch

1:45-3:15 PM EST, Learning the Law: Prison Law Libraries, Public Schools and Legal Academia

There is a movement brewing to transform legal education from the inside out. Come hear panelists reflect on their own experiences learning and teaching the law, and exchange strategies on how to democratize and expand legal education to build a more just world together. 

This conference is organized by the Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative and Bernstein Institute for Human Rights. We would like to thank the Bernstein family and Advisory Board for their extraordinary leadership and support of the Institute’s work. And lastly, we are grateful to the Mellon Foundation, the Mott Foundation, Tuttleman Family Foundation, The Tow Foundation, and Porticus Foundation for their partnership in advancing justice from the inside out.