In 2018, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak was the national voice for prisoners in the National Prison Strike with the following 10 demands: ​

The National Prison Strikes continue to break records as the largest prisoner strikes in US history. Do you want to support these demands? Get involved today.

National Prison Strike Demands

  1. Immediate improvements to the conditions of prisons and prison policies that recognize the humanity of imprisoned persons

  2. An immediate end to prison slavery. All persons imprisoned in any place of detention under U.S. jurisdiction must be paid the prevailing wage in their state or territory for their labor

  3. The Prison Litigation Reform Act must be rescinded, allowing imprisoned humans a proper channel to address grievances and violations of their rights

  4. The Truth in Sentencing Act and the Sentencing Reform Act must be rescinded so that imprisoned humans have a possibility of rehabilitation and parole. No human shall be sentenced to Death by Incarceration or serve any sentence without the possibility of parole

  5. An immediate end to the racial overcharging, over-sentencing, and parole denials of Black and brown humans. Black humans shall no longer be denied parole because the victim of the crime was white, which is a particular problem in southern states

  6. An immediate end to racist gang enforcement laws targeting Black and brown humans

  7. No imprisoned human shall be denied access to rehabilitation programs at their place of detention because of their label as a violent offender

  8. State prisons must be funded specifically to offer more rehabilitation services

  9. Pell grants must be reinstated in all U.S. states and territories

  10. The voting rights of all confirmed citizens serving prison sentences, pretrial detainees, and so called “ex felons” must be counted. Representation is demanded. All voices count

Share the demands today.

An easy way to spread the word is to share these demands on social media using the graphic below. These demands have been adopted as the platform for JLS. Their national organizing strategy to dismantle the Prison Industrial Slave Complex is around these demands.

You can demand resolution of these demands with your local legislature, and make it a platform issue to share in your community or organization.

Make sure you tag Jailhouse Lawyers Speak on Facebook and Twitter.