The possibilities offered by ILAP go beyond visiting customers and writing letters. ILAP members have the opportunity to develop their legal research and writing skills by writing internal memos on the most current legal issues facing incarcerated individuals. Recent topics in the memos include the death penalty at the federal level and access to legal resources in prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crowell is one of many clients with mental health issues that PGAP students have helped in recent years. When PLAP took over his case in 2013, Wilfred Dacier had been waiting for years for his parole. In 2010, after spending 15 years in prison, during which he was diagnosed and treated for schizoaffective disorder and had an impeccable criminal record, Dacier was released on probation, but only on the condition that the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) commit him to a hospital. DMH refused, believing that hospitalization was not justified, and the board, for its part, withdrew its decision to approve the probation. The Prison Legal Assistance Project (PLAP) is a student practice organization at Harvard Law School where students represent people incarcerated in Massachusetts prisons. Almost 10 years ago, Wilfred Dacier was told that he would be a free man.
But for Dacier, now 63, his eyesight continued to be a small corner of the town of Gardner that only changed with the seasons. That Dacier remained in prison after being paroled, let alone for the better part of a decade, is “crazy,” said Joel Thompson, senior counsel at the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project at Harvard Law School, which represents Dacier. “In 2010, you forgave him, and the only thing he`s wasted since then is not having a DMH to take it. Why not just develop a release plan together? Although the board indicated that Crowell`s condition would not improve, he was denied parole on the grounds that there were no appropriate means outside the prison to support Crowell and his disability. PLAP sued the council for discrimination. Joel Thompson `97, a clinical instructor and senior lawyer at PLAP, notes that the challenges don`t end there, as prisoners with developmental disabilities must also submit a proposed release plan. The fact that these two clients had significant intellectual disabilities was not an aberration, but a continuation of a trend. According to Fitzpatrick, the student practice organization has been conducting probation hearings since at least 1984, when he first worked at PLAP as a student, but the work has changed as mass incarceration has taken root in Massachusetts and nationwide. Fitzpatrick returned to PLAP in 1997 as supervising counsel and has since witnessed massive political changes beginning in the late 1980s, “aggressively facilitating the arrest, prosecution and imprisonment of more people,” resulting in a prison population where intellectual and medical disabilities are prevalent.
Probation cases have long been at the heart of PLAB`s work in representing inmates in Massachusetts prisons. In most cases, two PLAP students represent a lifer in a single probation hearing. PLAP student lawyers represent clients accused of violating prison rules during disciplinary hearings and those facing probation or revocation and second-degree life sentences before the Massachusetts Parole Board. Student lawyers also provide detainees with assistance in cases ranging from civil rights violations to confiscated property. We do not handle criminal or civil cases and are unable to assist persons detained outside the state of Massachusetts. Although some of their probation officers will be sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, there is no guarantee that they will ever be released. PLAP students research the underlying criminal case, review their client`s penitentiary records, and prepare their client for extensive questioning by the parole board, as well as an attempt to create an appropriate release plan that must consider everything from housing and work to sobriety and other support programs. “We don`t have a society that voluntarily sets up all kinds of programs for people released from prison, but the Parole Board will base its decision in part on whether the inmate has the right services and supports in the community to ensure success,” says Thompson.
Finding these services and support is difficult for any prisoner. For someone with a mental illness or head injury, this is a particularly unfair request. It didn`t take long for PLAP to see the same trend in its probation cases. For prisoners with disabilities entitled to parole, years of inadequate treatment and the resulting disciplinary sanctions make probation a distant possibility. “For every Mr. Crowell or Mr. Dacier, there is another prisoner who has a mental disability or other significant need, but who has no representation,” he said. For decades, PGAP students have been there to meet this need. “Our students will continue to stand up for our customers, no matter how unpopular, and ensure our government lives up to its obligations.” We encourage students to participate in this project, even if they do not intend to practice criminal law. In addition to dealing with criminal law issues, ILAP conducts research for numerous civil law claims and often offers law students their first interaction with the client within a legal framework. The knowledge and skills gained through volunteering with ILAP will help students develop experiential careers in the legal community. ILAP is a student organization funded by the U.S.
Department of Justice. Under the guidance of an experienced appellate attorney, students assist incarcerated individuals on a variety of legal issues, ranging from direct appeals and ineffective support for attorney claims to tort claims and habeas corpus petitions. During a typical year, students have the opportunity to meet and interview clients during visits to the United States.