A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual

435 West 116th Street New York, NY 10027           

jlm.board.mail@gmail.com

 

A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual (JLM) is a handbook of legal rights and procedures designed for use by currently incarcerated people. Since publication of the First Edition in 1978, tens of thousands of people in institutions across the country have used A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual to exercise their legal rights.

 

The 13th Edition of the JLM is out now! Click here to view, download, and print the JLM

 

The 13th edition was published the summer of 2024. With the needs of currently incarcerated people across the country in mind, the Columbia Human Rights Law Review has endeavored, to the extent feasible, to make the 13th Edition of the JLM useful to all who use it without regard to where they are incarcerated. The JLM covers a wide variety of topics and also includes a directory of legal and social services for incarcerated people around the country. The information on federal actions will be helpful to a person in a federal prison, or pursuing federal claims, no matter where they are located. The law, procedures and forms relating to state actions vary from state to state, however. Where possible, we provide information that is generally applicable, although we often use New York forms and procedures for specific illustrations. We regret that the size and scope of the book prevent us from providing forms and specific procedural information for all states. Nevertheless, people incarcerated outside New York will find the JLM a valuable research tool.