samedi 4 juin 2011

JAILHOUSE LAWYERS PRISONERS DEFENDING PRISONERS v THE USA

From death row in Pennsylvania, launch of a new book in the UK: JAILHOUSE LAWYERS

Date: Thursday, 30 June 2011 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm

Location: House of Lords, Committee Room 4
jlcoversmall.jpg

Foreword by Angela Y. Davis,
Introduction by Selma James

Published by Crossroads Books
Price: £11.99 (See order form below.)
Free to Prisoners.
Donations welcome to help cover costs.

JAILHOUSE LAWYERS

PRISONERS DEFENDING PRISONERS
v THE USA

By Mumia Abu-Jamal

Hosted by Lord Ramsbotham
Former HM Chief Inspector of Prisons

Speakers:
Selma James Crossroads Books editor, Introduction to Jailhouse Lawyers

John Hirst Ex-prisoner, won European Court decision for prisoners’ right to vote.

Flo Krause Barrister who represented John Hirst in the European Court

Benjamin Zephaniah, poet, ex-prisoner

Ian Macdonald QC Wrote letter to US court on racism in Abu-Jamal’s trial, signed by over 100 UK lawyers

Emmanuel De Silva, jailhouse lawyer

Niki Adams, Legal Action for Women


From death row, award-winning journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal introduces us to fellow prisoners who litigate against their jailers, risking punishment or even death, to win justice for themselves and other prisoners.

“This is the story,” he writes, “of law learned not in the ivory towers of multi-billion-dollar endowed universities [but] in the hidden, dank dungeons of America – the Prisonhouse of Nations.”

Selma James’s Introduction presents the parallel universe of UK jailhouse lawyers who, like their US counterparts, are leading a justice movement inside prisons.

UK prisoners, denied the vote, are campaigning for this fundamental right. A legal challenge brought by a jailhouse lawyer supported by a dedicated legal team won a European Court ruling in 2004 that a blanket ban on votes for prisoners violates their human rights. Yet the government, in opposing votes for prisoners, acts as if those of us who are prisoners are less human, and deny that prisons and what goes on in them also frame the kind of society we all inhabit.

The UK publication of Jailhouse Lawyers is an opportunity for prisoners’ campaign for the vote and other efforts for fundamental reforms to be more widely known and supported.

WHAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT JAILHOUSE LAW YERS

Anger with accuracy. Outstanding. Ian Macdonald QC

Deserves to be read by policymakers. Lord David Ramsbotham, former HM Chief Inspector of Prisons

Illuminates what is possible for jailhouse lawyers in Britain, Ben Gunn, UK jailhouse lawyer

A champion of law in an institution that is lawless. Benjamin Zephaniah, poet, ex-prisoner

Gallant prisoners who do battle with the authorities. Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve

A brilliant analysis of law and lawyers as instruments of injustice. Lord Anthony Gifford QC, UK barrister and attorney, Jamaica

A must read for prisoners and prison reform groups. John Hirst, former jailhouse lawyer

In the grand tradition of prison writing. Frances Crook, Director, Howard League for Penal Reform

An international learning tool – of particular importance to the Caribbean, Richard Small, attorney, Jamaica

The truth about death row and its distinguished inhabitants. Niki Adams, Legal Action for Women

Make way for inside voices. Everybody should read it. Flo Krause, barrister

Mumia Abu-Jamal has once more offered us new ways of thinking about law, democracy, and power. Angela Y. Davis, from the Foreword

They learn the law, the procedures, the jargon, and mount an often formidable legal defence. In the process they carve out a life for themselves. Selma James, from the Introduction

more reviews

ORDER JAILHOUSE LAWYERS

Order on line at http://allwomencount.net/Publications/Forsalepage.htm or send your order to:

crossroadsbooks@allwomencount.net or by post to Crossroads Books, PO Box 287 London NW6 5QU

Please send me ______ copies of Jailhouse Lawyers. I attach a cheque or postal order for ___________

made out to Crossroads Books. Price: £11.99 (plus 10% for p&p)

Bulk orders: 3 copies £30, 6 copies £55

Free to prisoners. Donations welcome to help cover costs.

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