Skip to Content

ethics of care

Welcome.

Get to know jailhouse lawyers and their loved ones through the words, wisdom, and experiences of incarcerated individuals who teach themselves the law to advocate for themselves and the rights of their peers. 

Please take care as you interact with these stories as they provide insight into alternatives and solutions to mass incarceration, but also touch upon difficult content, including confinement, medical neglect, and death, and retaliation that jailhouse lawyers routinely experience– from solitary confinement to transfers and restrictions on accessing law libraries and resources – simply because they seek to know, use, and shape law.

Additionally, please approach this website with respect, care, responsibility, including without an intent of exploitation.

This website was crafted on these principles, and we hope you enter this space feeling the same.

– Flashlights Team

Flashlight icon

No results found!

Portrait

Justice throughBrendalyn’s eyes

Portrait

Justice throughBrendalyn’s eyes

  • image description
  • image description
  • image description
  • image description
  • image description
Brendalyn’s interview  20:46
Oh, definitely. And it’s funny, because, you know, of course, before I came in here, and I, I wasn’t going around advocating like that, but now being that I’ve lived it, and I know what it’s like. Definitely, definitely. It would be...I can’t imagine not being a justice advocate.
  • image description
  • image description
  • image description
  • image description
  • image description
Brendalyn’s interview  17:18
Oh, I feel like I mean, somebody has to speak up, you know. You can’t...I mean if you don’t stand for something you fall for anything. That is like very, very true. So, you have to speak up. You can’t just sit by and watch the things going on and not say something. Because when it’s happening to you, you know, you’re gonna want somebody to say something. And I feel like, the more people ignore it, or let it happen, the worse it’s gonna be. So no, you have to, and I always, I feel good about it, actually, when I do. Because, I mean, I’m like, yeah, I’m gonna say something. And it’s to the point where now like, a lot of the people that work here they KNOW, I’m gonna say something.
image description
Audio
Brendalyn’s interview

What makes me feel this way?

Brendalyn’s interview  17:18
Okay, so the thing about that is...you know, for some reason, I don’t know I always get the impression that it’s not something that’s really smiled upon in here [laughs]. And so, like they’re always very strict about it. About-first of all, like, you have to actually make an appointment with that person, too. And it has to be approved that you would meet up with that person in the law library. Like you can’t just go to the Law Library and see a jailhouse lawyer and be like “Oh I need to speak with you” they’re like, “No, you have to fill out this form and make an appointment. You get what I’m saying? It’s not like that and and even then it’s like only for one hour. And I really feel like that’s just not enough time. You know, but they make you work for it, they make you work for that time. And so, but when I have been able to do it, it’s been like it’s been awesome...just hearing you know, you know, sharing different business thoughts and helping each other out with different things.
image description
Switch views
Justice Through Brendalyn’s Eyes
move your mouse in any direction — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally —to uncover additional content
Back to top