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"Writ Writer" Wins Silver Gavel Award

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Sun May 10, 2009 at 11:52:23 AM EST
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Via Grits for Breakfast, the ABA chose the independently produced documentary "Writ Writer" for its Silver Gavel Award.

Initially broadcast by the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens on PBS in June 2008, "Writ Writer" portrays the historic conflict that emerged in the 1960s when a cadre of Texas prisoners challenged the brutal conditions in state prisons. The film focuses on inmate Fred Cruz and attorney Frances Jalet, whose collaborative efforts led to the legal battle Ruiz v. Estelle, which led to the most comprehensive court-ordered state prison reform in U.S. history and landmark litigation for the right of Texas prisoners to assist one another with lawsuits.

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    "Writ Writer" Wins Silver Gavel Award | 1 comment (1 topical)

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    Yet the bar (none / 0) (#1)
    by NMvoiceofreason on Sun May 10, 2009 at 01:39:59 PM EST
    ...has seen fit to help gut Ruiz v. Estelle. Almost every prison has a disciplinary charge for one inmate assisting another, and the few attorneys who end up behind bars often end up coerced to do the bidding of other inmates.

    Very few prisons have law libraries that compare to those used by prosecutors. Almost none have computer and search tools that are equivalent. None have comparable ease of access.

    We often win the fight to lose the war. Slowly, by small measures, one step at a time, the State wins by taking this away and that away and it is all seen as "necessary for order and discipline".

    I have often thought that the final stage of the bar exam should be a "black rendition", where you are taken to an undisclosed location, and until you can argue your way back to freedom and non-felon status, you don't get to practice law. It would serve as kind of a quality control measure. Maybe increase some pro bono hours too.

    "Writ Writer" Wins Silver Gavel Award | 1 comment (1 topical)

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