WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.330 --> 00:00:02.040 My name is Stefen Short, I'm a staff attorney 2 00:00:02.040 --> 00:00:04.990 with the Prisoners' Rights Project of the Legal Aid Society. 3 00:00:04.990 --> 00:00:07.330 We're an organization that files class-action cases 4 00:00:07.330 --> 00:00:09.270 line:15% for people in state custody 5 00:00:09.270 --> 00:00:11.500 line:15% and people in New York City custody. 6 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:12.730 line:15% Most of our class-actions are 7 00:00:12.730 --> 00:00:15.310 line:15% about conditions of confinement in the jails, 8 00:00:15.310 --> 00:00:18.890 line:15% anything from access to proper necessities of life, 9 00:00:18.890 --> 00:00:20.550 whether it's food, drinking water, 10 00:00:20.550 --> 00:00:23.760 access to services in the prisons, commissary, 11 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:25.790 line:15% programs, things of that nature. 12 00:00:25.790 --> 00:00:28.900 line:15% We also file use-of-force cases against the city, 13 00:00:28.900 --> 00:00:32.080 line:15% and we file use-of-force cases in the state system. 14 00:00:32.080 --> 00:00:34.770 line:15% Essentially, we exist to create 15 00:00:34.770 --> 00:00:36.290 prisons and jails that are humane 16 00:00:36.290 --> 00:00:38.770 and prisons and jails that rehabilitate 17 00:00:38.770 --> 00:00:40.660 rather than simply punish. 18 00:00:40.660 --> 00:00:43.800 So we have our advocacy, our individual advocacy clients. 19 00:00:43.800 --> 00:00:45.480 They will either call us through our hotline 20 00:00:45.480 --> 00:00:47.390 or write us about a particular rights violation 21 00:00:47.390 --> 00:00:49.220 they're experiencing on the inside. 22 00:00:49.220 --> 00:00:51.660 Often times, we will advocate directly 23 00:00:51.660 --> 00:00:53.620 through the facility for that client, 24 00:00:53.620 --> 00:00:55.890 so we can write to a superintendent, 25 00:00:55.890 --> 00:01:00.470 we can write to a person such as a deputy superintendent 26 00:01:00.470 --> 00:01:02.540 who may be in charge of getting that person 27 00:01:02.540 --> 00:01:04.710 line:15% the programming and services they need. 28 00:01:04.710 --> 00:01:06.680 line:15% I often will write to the central office 29 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:08.570 line:15% for the Department of Corrections 30 00:01:08.570 --> 00:01:09.810 line:15% to address issues such as 31 00:01:09.810 --> 00:01:11.710 line:15% failures to accommodate a disability 32 00:01:11.710 --> 00:01:14.550 or failures to accommodate a mental health need. 33 00:01:14.550 --> 00:01:15.383 So there are a variety 34 00:01:15.383 --> 00:01:18.070 of different individual advocacy channels that we use. 35 00:01:18.070 --> 00:01:19.170 One of the really great things 36 00:01:19.170 --> 00:01:20.370 about being a civil rights lawyer 37 00:01:20.370 --> 00:01:22.430 is that all of us are involved 38 00:01:22.430 --> 00:01:24.550 in all of our cases from inception, right? 39 00:01:24.550 --> 00:01:26.960 We interact with the client at the front end, 40 00:01:26.960 --> 00:01:29.410 we read the first letter, we take the first call, 41 00:01:30.300 --> 00:01:32.490 we work with our paralegal staff 42 00:01:32.490 --> 00:01:35.640 and our other attorney staff to write the advocacy letter. 43 00:01:35.640 --> 00:01:37.320 line:15% We very often visit the client 44 00:01:37.320 --> 00:01:39.420 line:15% and speak with the client, get to know the client. 45 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:42.190 line:15% And of course we're involved in writing the complaint, 46 00:01:42.190 --> 00:01:44.650 line:15% if it's a litigation, and filing the complaint, 47 00:01:44.650 --> 00:01:46.060 line:15% and arguing if there's an argument. 48 00:01:47.450 --> 00:01:49.360 I'm involved in a case on the city side 49 00:01:49.360 --> 00:01:50.930 called Handberry versus Thompson, 50 00:01:50.930 --> 00:01:54.900 which is probably one of the most important education cases 51 00:01:54.900 --> 00:01:57.990 in the correctional, against the correctional, institution, 52 00:01:57.990 --> 00:01:59.310 probably in the history of the country. 53 00:01:59.310 --> 00:02:01.990 It was filed in 1996 by this office. 54 00:02:01.990 --> 00:02:04.440 As a direct result of that case, 55 00:02:04.440 --> 00:02:06.880 about 90% of the people on Rikers Island 56 00:02:06.880 --> 00:02:08.440 who are eligible for education 57 00:02:08.440 --> 00:02:10.400 are being educated right now. 58 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:11.810 Prior to the filing of that case, 59 00:02:11.810 --> 00:02:13.780 only 40% of the people eligible 60 00:02:13.780 --> 00:02:15.790 on the island were being educated. 61 00:02:15.790 --> 00:02:19.210 line:15% I'm involved in some other brutality-related issues, 62 00:02:19.210 --> 00:02:20.890 line:15% ensuring that our clients are not subjected 63 00:02:20.890 --> 00:02:23.090 line:15% to long periods in solitary confinement. 64 00:02:24.320 --> 00:02:25.610 line:15% It really runs the gamut. 65 00:02:25.610 --> 00:02:27.630 There are a lot of human rights violations 66 00:02:27.630 --> 00:02:28.630 occurring in our prisons, 67 00:02:28.630 --> 00:02:30.390 and we try to involve ourselves 68 00:02:32.002 --> 00:02:33.880 in remedying as much of those as possible 69 00:02:33.880 --> 00:02:35.720 and you know, my day is different every single day 70 00:02:35.720 --> 00:02:36.553 for that reason.