Beyond Bars: Untitled (Artwork)

by Brian Fuller Hondo, TX

Beyond Bars: My Revolutionary Resurrection

Xinachtli AKA Alvaro Luna Hernandez Iowa Park, TX You have falsified, destroyed our history, after you stole our lands, converting us into foreigners, illegal aliens in our own homeland. But you will never erase our identity, culture, tongue, our Indigenous roots, you so fear and despise. We are a proud, noble, humble, compassionate people, but […]

JLI Law School Tour to Uplift Legal Work of Incarcerated People

By Jhody Polk The Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative (JLI), hosted by the NLG, is excited to be launching the Legal Empowerment is Abolition law school tour in seven states starting in the fall of 2019 through spring 2020. JLI will be visiting law schools in Florida, New Orleans, Texas, Chicago, California, New York, and Washington, DC. […]

2019 NLG Week Against Mass Incarceration to Tackle “War on Drugs”

Following the National Lawyers Guild Law for the People Convention in October 2015, NLG membership adopted a resolution calling for “the dismantling and abolition of all prisons and of all aspects of systems and institutions that support, condone, create, fill, or protect prisons.” In honor of this resolution, in 2016 the NLG expanded our annual Student […]

BEYOND BARS: The Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative

Dear Defenders of Justice, Are you currently assigned, or have been (during your current term of incarceration), to the law library as a certified law clerk in a state or federal prison within the United States? Are you known as a “jailhouse lawyer” at your institution? If you answered “Yes” to either of these questions, […]

BEYOND BARS: Revolutionary Greetings

By Jennifer Gann Soledad, CA Dear friends and comrades, Revolutionary greetings from behind enemy lines in so-called California (occupied Chumas and other tribal territory), where I remain in captivity. I would like to introduce myself to fellow NLG members and Jailhouse Lawyers, and tell you about some of my work. My name is Jennifer Gann. […]

BEYOND BARS: A Community in Crisis – Resiliency and Determination in the Face of Invidious Discrimination

By Kamilla D. London Smyrna, DE The fear-reaching ramifications of discrimination continue to affect us in every facet of life, even in spite of the tremendous progress we’ve made in recent years. This discrimination even incarcerates us. Many trans people, like myself, end up in prison not because we are willful and wanton criminals, but […]

BEYOND BARS: To Grieve or Not to Grieve?

Eric Pepke Petersburg, VA It can seem pointless to challenge the deplorable conditions we face in prison, but it is important to do so anyway. Action can make a difference, especially in numbers. Even if one of us fails, many together can succeed. One of the most powerful ways to effect change is the federal […]

BEYOND BARS: Immunity Through the State

Valencia Simms Milton, FL Court rulings such as Hall v. Key and the Supreme Court rendering in Hudson v. McMillian clearly forbade malicious and sadistic abuse of prisoners. The decision in McMillian outlined “excessive force” as prison guards violently imposing not “in a good faith effort to maintain and restore” order, but out of personal […]

BEYOND BARS: Be Vigilant of Your Rights

Patrick Lexis Suffield, CT Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Patrick Lexis and I’m 25-years-old. In my six years incarcerated I was compelled to learn the law. I taught myself to practice law. By reading countless case laws in my cell, I learned how to prove the elements of how my civil rights […]