By Chris Freeman New Boston, TX Most criminals grew up in circumstances of dire poverty, in families where one or both parents were abusive, and without the benefits of a proper education or away from home at a young age. We were forced to drift to the poor and slum areas of big cities and […]
Article Categories: Beyond Bars
Beyond Bars: Voices from NLG Jailhouse Lawyers that features articles, artwork, and poetry by people in prison.
BEYOND BARS: Re: Law as a Pathway to Character Development
By William A. Larson Licking, MO Mr. Phoenix’s commentary articulations in “Law as a Pathway to Character Development,” on page 19 of your Summer/Fall 2017 issue of Guild Notes, is “right on” point, as we used to say in days gone by. Far too many prisoners allow themselves to be turned into Quisling Sheople, by […]
BEYOND BARS: Dirty Lawyers and Crooked Judges
By Gabriel Arkles, NLG member and professor at Northeastern University School of Law Most defense attorneys—especially public defenders—are good people doing their best in a shitty system. And some are truly amazing. But there are some who flout the rules. These are the private lawyers who pressure you and your family to pay them your […]
NLG DE-NJ & ACLU DE: Initial Study Findings Reveal Worsening Conditions Leading Up to Feb. Uprising at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center
This piece was adapted from a press release by the NLG DE-NJ Chapter and the ACLU-DE June 8, 2017. NOTE: See this issue’s Beyond Bars article, “Life at Vaughn Prison as a Black Transwoman,” by Kamilla London. Initial findings from a joint study currently underway by the Prisoners Legal Advocacy Network (PLAN) of the National […]
Beyond Bars: Life at Vaughn Prison as a Black Transwoman
When I was sentenced in 2011 to 25 years in prison, I was largely relieved. At least I would escape temporarily the hell of rape, violence, and discrimination which my life on the streets as a black transwoman had involved. Many transgender people like me are ostracized by our families, refused respite in public shelters, […]
Beyond Bars: Law as a Pathway to Character Development
By Jeremiah Phoenix Dannemora, NY As readers of this column know well, familiarity with law is a valuable and often necessary skill in prison. A talented prisoner litigant can effect significant positive change for himself or herself and their fellow brothers and sisters, and can protect themselves from repression and abuse in ways people without […]
Beyond Bars: Innocent Until Proven Guilty?
By C. Martin Sterling Newark, NJ We are assured that if we are charged with a crime in the “Land of the Free,” we are, “innocent until proven guilty.” We are handcuffed and shackled in front of friends, family, and neighbors, though we are, “innocent until proven guilty.” We are vilified by the media, for […]
BEYOND BARS: Lifers’ Group and CURE-ARM Team Up, Meet with Mass. Legislators at Prisons
By Timothy J. Muise Norfolk, MA Two groups, one an old war horse in the push for common sense criminal justice reform and the other fairly new on the scene, have teamed up in an attempt to get the voice of the informed prisoner back into the Massachusetts Sate House. The Lifers’ Group, Inc., founded […]
BEYOND BARS: Legal Espionage: The Degradation of the Brady Doctrine
By S. Gabriella Kiely Romulus, NY The US legal system is built on fair and equitable legal proceedings in criminal cases; securing fundamental rights for defendants, and restricting malicious behaviors by the lawyers. Over the years, many appellate cases have changed the face of criminal defense law; one of those cases was Brady v. Maryland […]
BEYOND BARS: Reflections on 40 Years of NLG-JHL Activism
By Iron Thunderhorse Teague, TX I began working with NLG as a jailhouse lawyer membership coordinator in the early 1970s. That was the year when the monster of all prisoner lawsuits began, and Ruiz v. Estelle was launched under the Institutionalized Persons Act. Multiple complaints were consolidated and the United States intervened as a party. […]