Decarceration Advocacy Project (formerly Prison Legal Education Project)
The goal of the Decarceration Advocacy Project, formerly the Prison Legal Education Project, is to support the decarceration movement by empowering people who are currently incarcerated in Pennsylvania jails and prisons through legal education, post-conviction relief assistance, and policy change. Through this work, we hope to give incarcerated individuals resources and support so they know, and can pursue, their legal rights.
What we do:
The Decarceration Advocacy Project is composed of three parts:
Legal Education: We work with incarcerated people in the women’s units at Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center (PICC) to create legal resources to meet their expressed needs. We facilitate weekly discussions on Friday afternoons (12:30PM) about these resources. Topics include, but are not limited to, steps of misdemeanor and felony criminal cases, court-appointed attorneys, family law, housing law, plea decisions and their consequences, resources for when they are out (food, shelter, healthcare, etc.), search and seizure law, self-defense law, and tax law. We also translate our resources into Spanish.
Post Conviction: Incarcerated individuals have a right to pursue appeals of their convictions and submit post-conviction challenges after a conviction is finalized. We partner with legal organizations in Philadelphia to assist incarcerated individuals in filing Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) petitions and challenging their conditions of confinement. Work includes legal research and writing, client communication, and file review.
Death Penalty Policy (DP3): We work with the Death Penalty Policy Project to provide insight and commentary on how the death penalty affects mass incarceration in Pennsylvania and around the country. Currently, 24 states still have an active death penalty statute, and three states are on moratorium while the current administration remains in place, including Pennsylvania. Our team works alongside DP3 lead by Rob Dunham, founder of the Death Penalty Information Center, to research imperative ties between the death penalty, retribution, deterrence, anti-democratic laws, and a plethora of other issues.
How we do it:
Legal Education: Volunteers work with incarcerated individuals at PICC during each weekly lesson alongside other Penn Carey Law students. We disseminate our weekly resources and then talk with folks in small groups or one-on-one about the resources. We listen to people’s stories and write down any information that should be added to our handouts. We do not provide individual legal advice. Transportation to the jail is covered by TPIC. No prior knowledge about the Philadelphia legal system is required as we will have trainings throughout the semester.
Post Conviction: Volunteers assist attorneys with their clients’ PCRA petitions by conducting legal research, file review, and any other necessary assistance. Depending on the client and the partner organization, some work will be a year-long commitment to one client, while other work will be assigned as discrete projects with specified time commitments.
Death Penalty Policy: Volunteers will provide DP3 with discrete legal research projects that may be used by defense attorneys and legislators to rebut the death penalty. Each assignment will differ regarding time commitments, but most deadlines are flexible. A project may include researching bills that have passed or will pass in states that have the death penalty, researching current rates of execution warrants, or any relevant projects that occur due to changes in legislation.
How and when can I join:
Interested volunteers should email the current co-chairs, Yasmine Seghir (yseghir@penncareylaw.upenn.edu) and Dominique Malone (domim@penncareylaw.upenn.edu) for an application. You can also visit us at the Pro Bono sign up fair! Please note that DAP only accepts new volunteers in the beginning of the Fall and Spring semesters and requires at least one academic semester’s commitment.
What skills will I develop:
Working with incarcerated clients, community lawyering, legal research, legal writing, legal analysis, classroom management, public speaking, presentation skills, teaching and making legal jargon digestible.
This work is likely to be New York Bar eligible.