“Hunger Strike Follow-up: Demand #5.” Recorded on September 17, 2026.
The law moves in the direction of protecting the strong and oppressing the weak. Its growing dependence upon force corrupts and erodes justice. Nowhere have I been in the lower 48 states has this proven more accurate and true than in Virginia. One of the great resistors to this reality in Virginia and at the national level is the jailhouse lawyer. Jailhouse lawyers work harder and discover more secrets hidden in state and federal codes, long-forgotten case citations –and that often under levels of duress–that entire cadres of defense attorneys and innocence projects working in concert might ever hope to achieve. It is for this reason and so many others that demand such champions to the pursuits of justice, that my fifth hunger strike demand required action and legislation from Virginia’s General Assembly to recognize the efforts of jailhouse lawyers.
Johnson v. Avery 393 U.S. 483, in the Supreme Court for the United States, 1969, settled the case. “The layman,” as they phrased it, “becomes a necessary aid in maintaining access to the courts.” They provide a number of solid justifications for ruling in favor of JHLs [jailhouse lawyers], such as the large portion of prisoner populations that are illiterate or suffer from mental deficiencies. To this day that, and the increasingly labyrinthine web work that is state and federal law, reinforces such a stance. Jailhouse lawyers are an integral aspect of a country that bases its system of justice, at least in part, on the ideals of true and accurate courts where facts, and nothing besides, govern the application and interpretations of the laws. To that end, truth and justice based solely on facts, numerous collectives from prison to prison, state to state, have grown out from the cracks in the concrete. Publications such as Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News, published by Human Rights Defense Network, among hundreds of publications and newsletters, have come to be to feed the need of the layman fighting a case from behind the walls and the fences. There has been more than one jailhouse lawyer who has gone on to take the bar exam in their state, and passed, and become a licensed attorney.
In recent years, a national organization, the Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative, has sprung into existence; has some 1,500 members nationwide, and at least some support from the Bernstein Law School at NYU. It not only supports jailhouse lawyers with various materials, but also discusses ethics, codes of behavior, and more, while helping other prisoners fight for relief in a criminal case or assert their constitutional and human rights, which are so often trod upon by DOC officials who operate unchecked and too often outside the law. It was to this point, informed by a decade of watching how the Virginia DOC targets jailhouse lawyers, including myself, that I have come to make my fifth demand: the Virginia General Assembly should create a work group whose sole purpose is to help support, educate, and encourage jailhouse lawyers in Virginia.
There are not enough lawyers, not enough innocence projects, and not enough legal aid groups for a state that boasts the highest wrongful conviction rate in the nation, and one of the most corrupt and abusive DOCs in the nation. A work group that provided resources and services, as well as a lawyer or two and paralegals to offer advice, reviews of paperwork, etc., would go a long way in bringing about the sort of changes that Virginia, and especially its citizens, are desperate for. It also sends a clear message letting citizens know that at least one of Virginia’s many problems, and arguably a problem among its most severe, is recognized and being addressed at some level.
As an aside, I’d like to remind everyone again that the 23rd through the 26th, the Valley Justice Coalition is promoting a film festival in the Harrisonburg area. You can find more at their website below, and the Coalition for Justice is showing the premiere of [A Litany of] All That’s Left, their documentary, which I’ve repeatedly promoted, and that’ll be on the 27th, in Richmond. And you can find their information on their website below. My name is David Annarelli, substack.com@davidannarelli. Instagram: david_annarelli. Find me in plenty of other places if you go through Google. Thank you very much, and power to the new AI overlords of the human race. The peons are no longer required.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
