Quentin Lewis: Jailhouse Lawyer, Poet, Fighting His Wrongful Conviction [Part 4]

Quentin Lewis has been incarcerated since he was 16. He's now 45 and an inmate at Wende Correctional Facility in upstate NY. He earned his G.E.D. and an Associates Degree in prison. He's been fighting a wrongful conviction since 2001. Students at Cardozo School of Law and Yeshiva are assisting with his case. Quentin is certified as law clerk in the prison system.Read his article in the New York Times here.Read Quentin's poem below.Jailhouse Lawyer, by Quentin LewisYou not a Jailhouse LawyerUnless you won a caseStop sitting on the sidelineLooking out of placeYou sitting down at ChowtimeLooking at your plateLike waitHow I'm gone get out From behind this gateGo escape in the law libraryLifting weightsDamn straightThis time is scaryAs your fateNo date upstateThe cell your sanctuaryLike a braincellWhere your energy is carriedThe law legaliseIn my memory is buriedDue processCame way before slaveryMaybe you need to learnJohnson verse AverySupreme Court saidJailhouse Lawyers amazingFiling tortsTrying to get back to the pavementA better personMore than before I was caged inTrailblazingChampion of human rightsHell raisingThe right to counsel never diesAfter direct appealYou still aliveStrategize like a chess gameBe a knightBounds versus SmithIs your right to fight lifeLate night on the West law legal citeHype as a typist typeDefending rightsWrongfully convictedFeel like double jeopardy twice.This podcast is proudly sponsored by the Innocence Project of Florida. Visit www.floridainnocence.org for more information.