Prisoners' Rights Advocates (PRA)2009-2010 Board Members Mari Byrne ‘11 Hansary Laforest ‘11 Laura Leigh Reifinger ‘11 Sasha Bass ’10 Alana Roth ’11 Deanna Paul ‘11 Room: 08, PIRC Office (Lower Level)
To bring a dialogue about prison issues to the Fordham University School of Law and support group members in internship placements and work relating to prisoners' rights. It is our belief that people, no matter where they may be living, are entitled to be treated with a basic level of dignity. The conditions of our prisons in this country are inhumane and inefficient. Inmates are consistently denied access to basic needs, such as adequate medical care. The prison system is also ill-equipped to deal with "special" populations such as the disabled, women, youth, and the mentally ill. Recidivism is a persistent problem that leads to huge numbers of people bouncing in and out of prison in an apparently endless cycle. Prisons themselves are not an isolated problem. Many issues that face society at large come to a head in prisons- a place where all those people who are not able to negotiate our social infrastructure successfully (for a variety of different reasons) often end up. Just because society has failed them in some way, or because they have failed themselves in some way, does not give us license to forget that prisoners exist and are being treated with unconscionable indifference. Email: E-mail fordhamlawpra@gmail.com to join our mailing list!
Look for our table at the Student Group Fair on September 5th in the Atrium at 4 p.m. FIRST MEETING: September 6th at 12:30 p.m., Room 215 Board of Corrections (“BOC”) Meeting, September 20th
PRA is an active member in The Coalition to Raise the Minimum Standards at New York City Jails The Coalition formed in order to fight the Board of Correction’s (“BOC’s”) proposed amendments to the Minimum Standards which we see as a general rollback of prisoners’ rights. The Coalition consists of current and former prisoners and their families, other concerned members of the New York City community, and more than twenty prisoners' rights and social justice organizations working in New York City and across the country. The Coalition’s website (including more information, press clippings and documents submitted by member organizations) is at: http://www.nycjailreform.org/. Last year, law students (all 1Ls at the time!) contributed to the Coalition’s work by: interviewing formerly incarcerated women and adolescents in order to prepare statements on the substantive proposals. We also conducted research on jail standards throughout the country for statements prepared by the Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights Project, Prof. Michael Mushlin at Pace University, and the Coalition as an entity. PRA also helped with community outreach efforts to raise awareness of the problem bring people to the hearing where the public will get a chance to comment on the new proposed Standards. PRA also drafted and submitted a petition (http://www.nycjailreform.org/foil/Fordham_Law.pdf) signed by many members of the Fordham Law community. PRA is a strong voice in the Fordham Law community’s discourse on criminal justice and correctional issues. PRA co-sponsored a talk on police brutality with the October 22nd Coalition (http://october22.org), a group outside the law school itself. The Panel was entitled ‘Police Brutality and the Grand Jury System- Where Does the Key to Justice Lie?’ PRA anticipates developing its partnership with the October 22 Coalition this coming year. PRA co-sponsored a talk with PIRC student group, the Death Penalty Project (DPP) on the topic of whether “the Death Penalty Still Important in a Post-Moratorium World?” Panelists included: attorneys Ron Tabak (Skadden pro-bono practice), Colleen Brady, and Russell Neufeld. PRA co-sponsored a talk with the Stein Scholars on the topic of “the Use of Solitary Confinement on Mentally Ill Prisoners.” Panelists included: with Raymond Ortiz (Urban Justice), Sarah Kerr (Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights Project), Father Lawrence Lucas ( New York State Department of Correctional Services- Ministry), Sheila Vaughn (retired corrections officer), and Jack Beck Correctional Association). INTERNSHIPS PRA placed two 1L students (Caroline Hsu and Kate Farber) at internships at the Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights Project (LAS-PRP) during the spring of 2007. PRA anticipates offering internship placement for 1Ls this coming spring at various organizations throughout the city. Please e-mail fordhamlawpra@gmail.com for more information. |
