{"id":846,"date":"2019-01-16T01:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T06:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/?post_type=article&p=846"},"modified":"2019-03-21T15:51:04","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T19:51:04","slug":"beyond-bars-be-vigilant-of-your-rights","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/article\/beyond-bars-be-vigilant-of-your-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"BEYOND BARS: Be Vigilant of Your Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patrick Lexis<\/strong>
\nSuffield, CT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Patrick Lexis and I\u2019m 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 were violated. I took a keen interest in the law. I\u2019ve witnessed first-hand how I and all the other prisoners had their civil rights violated.<\/p>\n

I began reading, A Jailhouse Lawyers Manual, 10th Edition<\/em><\/a>. I retained all the information and started helping and writing civil rights complaints for prisoners who did not know a thing about the law. Prisoners go each day knowing that their rights are being violated, but don\u2019t know how to comment a grievance, let alone a civil rights complaint.<\/p>\n

It fills me with bliss knowing that I can help a prisoner invoke their rights and seek redress in court. Prison officials take advantage of the ignorant knowing that they are blatantly violating prisoners\u2019 rights. One thing I noticed about prison officials is that they will almost always deny that they did any malfeasance.<\/p>\n

Anytime I assist a prisoner with a Sec. 1983 I always stress that they must be \u201cvigilant of your rights and not sleep on them.\u201d A lot of prisoners lose hope because of the gloomy environment that they\u2019re in. They believe they cannot do anything about their rights being violated. Once I introduce them to the power of the law, and how nobody is above it, their determination to do something about it is evident.<\/p>\n

As a prisoner and human being, I truly believe our civil rights are priceless. All in all, the law is an art that I\u2019m vigilant of and understand. It\u2019s a pleasure I think about when I\u2019m waking up and when I\u2019m going to sleep. Most of all, helping my fellow prisoners becoming vigilant of their civil rights is the best joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patrick Lexis Suffield, CT Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Patrick Lexis and I\u2019m 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"issuem_issue":[187],"issuem_issue_categories":[188],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"class_list":["post-846","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","issuem_issue-guild-notes-vol-43-no-4-winter-2018","issuem_issue_categories-beyond-bars","post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t