Inside the Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative with founder Jhody Polk

Last week, the Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative convened a conference called 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.” We’re joined by Jhody Polk, the founder of the Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative which is currently housed at the Bernstein Institute for Human Rights at NYU School of Law.

Who are jailhouse lawyers? Jailhouse lawyers are incarcerated individuals who generally have no formal legal training, but teach themselves the law to advocate for themselves and the rights of their peers. They conduct legal writing, research, and analysis on a host of legal issues from civil rights actions to habeas corpus petitions, administrative grievances, parole/probation, and family law matters, among others. Because of their justice work, these advocates are often retaliated against and silenced by the very institutions they attempt to hold to account. They continue to toil without recognition of their personal growth and rehabilitation, without their names being attached to the legal victories they fought for, and without connection to others doing the work or those standing in solidarity with them on the outside. JLI believes that breaking the cycle of incarceration requires building bridges between inside and out communities. Jailhouse lawyers are an essential part of reforming and abolishing the broken carceral system, and are seen as incarcerated advocates who are THE bridge builders.

The Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative can be reached at: