Everything But The Weed

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The jailhouse lawyer is a stock character in film and literature , and just like the pushy salesman, or gruff small town policeman , he is not just a product of fiction . There are jailhouse lawyers of varying levels of competence serving time and delivering legal services to their fellow convicts in penitentiaries all across the United States .

The most noted jailhouse lawyer in history was a convict named Jerome (‘Jerry the Jew’) Rosenberg, who was convicted of first degree murder in the shooting deaths of two New York City police officers in May of 1962. He  received the death penalty , but managed to have his sentence commuted to life in 1965 by then New York State Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller . In all , he served forty-six years in three different state correctional facilities , from February of 1963 till his death at the age of seventy-two on June 1, 2009, earning himself the doubtful distinction of having been incarcerated for a longer period than any prisonerin the New York State penal system.

Inside of the first four years of his conviction , he attained a diploma from the Blackstone School of Law, an accredited correspondence college , therefore becoming the first ward of a New York State penitentiary to receive a law diploma whilst incarcerated . As prison libraries with law books had yet to appear in the ’60s , his loved ones assisted with his studies by bringing law books to the prison. . It wasn’t up until 1977 that, in reference to Bounds v. Smith, the Supreme Court considered a prisoner’s lack of access to legal research facilities a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which says in part, “…nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without the due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Even in later years, as Rosenberg obtained greater access to law books , being a jailhouse lawyer was not easy. These self-styled experts generally have to contend with retaliation from prison officials. According to a 1989 study of prison discipline , solitary confinement is a common disciplinary strategy utilized against jailhouse lawyers. In fact, the biggest number of inmates by far confined to “control units” are jailhouse lawyers.

Despite the many hurdles he faced, Rosenberg was able to assist thousands of his fellow prisoners during around forty years as a jailhouse lawyer , gaining release from prison or decreased sentences for many of them . In 1981, he actually argued a case in court , presided over by the honorable Judge Albert Rosenblatt. He was the only prison inmate that has ever allowed to do so.

Rosenberg performed a key, but eventually futile, role in the Attica prison riot of 1971. He drafted a brief for a court injunction against any administrative or physical reprisals from prison officers if the prisoners agreed to release their hostages and put an end to the rebellion. The injunction was granted, but Rosenberg was not happy with its terms and ended up ripping it to shreds. After he did that, the negotiations broke down completely, New York State troopers moved against the hostage takers , and the riot ended in a hail of gunfire.

Although the Attica negotiations were not a success , Ronald L. Kuby, the previous law partner of a lawyer who worked closely with Rosenberg through the Attica prison riot, praised him, saying:

“Of all the jailhouse lawyers, he was the greatest and the best known. He came of age in prison before there was widespread access to counsel for post-conviction proceedings.”

Rosenberg never succeeded in employing his legal know-how and skills to gain his own freedom . At one point in time, he actually argued for an appeal of his case in front of the very same judge who had initially sentenced him. This was his honor ‘s wry remark :

“When I send them away, they never come back. Not only did Rosenberg come back, he came back as a lawyer.”

Nevertheless, for all his legal acumen and the grudging respect it won him in surprising quarters, Jerome Rosenberg was no saint . His arrest on the homicide charge that he consistently denied was in no way his initial offense .

But then again , bad fortune can befall the best of us . Virtually anyone may at one time or another find themselves at odds with the police . If you or a loved one in the Santa Barbara area should be in this kind of a situation, go to http://bailbondssantabarbara.net. to find a reputable and reliable bail bondsman in Santa Barbara to get you out of jail before you actually require the aid of a jailhouse lawyer.