A trio of former New York state prison inmates shared their experiences in solitary confinement, their insight into their work as jailhouse lawyers, and their mission to help others both in and outside prison during an April 14 event co-sponsored by Fordham Law School’s Prisoners’ Rights Advocates and the Fordham chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.
Terrence “Brilliance” Slater, Johnnie Bunting Jr., and Craig Williams told stories of being put in solitary for helping other inmates with legal questions, eating the notorious dietary offering while in solitary, and their current desire to see solitary abolished.
“We are trying to use every aspect of the proverbial ax or hammer to chip away at the system,” said Slater, CEO of the Incarcerated Nation Corp, a nonprofit organization providing reentry services to former inmates leaving solitary confinement and returning to their families.
1Ls Frank Kearl, Deema Nagib, and Rachel Weiner organized the event titled “Due Process vs. Disciplinary Process: And the Campaign to End Solitary Confinement.” Nagib and Weiner moderated the discussion.
The panel came as New York Senate Bill S2659 waits in committee. The bill, sponsored by State Senator Bill Perkins, would restrict the use of segregated confinement and create alternative therapeutic and rehabilitative confinement options.
A short distance from the classroom where the panel occurred, a 6’ by 8’ replica cell, constructed by Kearl, greeted visitors as they exited the third floor elevators. Such cells hold tens of thousands of prisoners for 23 hours per day, often for non-violent offenses. An estimated one-third of inmates locked in solitary suffer from mental illness.
“The cell is beautiful,” remarked Slater of the model. “It gives individuals a peak at the things inmates have to endure for months, years.”
Slater estimated he spent six of his 10 years in prison in solitary confinement. He earned a reputation as a jailhouse lawyer willing to defend his fellow inmates. He helped two of his fellow inmates gain release, but in the process suffered beatings and extended stays in solitary confinement. He maintained his innocence throughout his imprisonment.
“We go in with honor, knowing what the outcome is going to be,” Slater said, referring to his steadfast belief he would come home and equip others with the knowledge to change their lives. He has since started a program for prisoners and young children to learn how to code, he noted.
Bunting and Slater discussed separate instances where they alleged guards at Attica Correctional Facility beat them for the sole reason that they had expressed a desire to study the law and use it to aid others. Both men spoke of developing their legal acumen to the point prison officials viewed them as a threat and where other inmates became interested in the law.
Bunting spent more than 25 years in prison after being incarcerated for second-degree murder as a 17-year-old. His final six years were spent in solitary, he told the audience, noting this required him to play mind games to remain sane.
Two side effects of becoming a jailhouse lawyer, Bunting shared, were that his mail often did not get to its intended recipient, notably his relatives or courts, and that he ended up numerous times on the seven-day restrictive diet known as “the loaf,” the infamous pound cake–sized piece of bread served with cabbage that often caused constipation. The loaf was so bad, panelists said, that it inspired sympathy among prisoners that led rival gang members to temporarily put aside blood feuds and share other food.
Bunting is now mentoring other young men. He sees his prison stint as “the foundation for something great.”
“I did all these years,” Bunting said. “If I can’t build something positive from all that, that means most of my life was for nothing. I can’t have my life be for nothing.”
Williams, who spent 9.5 years incarcerated, also came home with the goal of rectifying previous wrongs. He has developed the nonprofit Photo Patch Foundation, which helps children upload photos to a website free of charge for their imprisoned parents to see. In addition, he speaks publicly against solitary confinement for those prisoners inside who lack a voice.