S. Access to Justice for People in Prison

Interested students should complete the application form for this course here: https://forms.gle/pzu7CnaetAqxnnpE8.

Inspired by the reimagination process underway to make the Jailhouse Lawyers Manual more accessible to people who are incarcerated, this course will explore the legal, institutional, and practical issues affecting access to justice in prison and jail. It will delve into the role of lawyers in increasing accessibility to law and justice. It will provide concrete concepts, tools, and practices for supporting the pursuit of legal rights and agency by those who are system-impacted, including how to use critical participatory action research to understand the needs and priorities of those seeking access to justice while in prison. The course will involve people with expertise in pursuing their legal rights while in prison--by representing themselves, acting as jailhouse lawyers, and/or serving as law clerks in the prison law library. It will also involve lawyers who work regularly with people who are incarcerated on their legal issues, as well as people with expertise from different disciplines that can support the students in learning how to communicate effectively across different identities, needs, and levels of literacy; trauma informed lawyering; critical participatory action research, and specific topics such as disability, mental health, technology, navigating the corrections bureaucracy, and using legal knowledge to reduce mass incarceration.