The Power of the Law in the Hands of the Poor

Around the world prisons are in crisis, overcrowded, and under-resourced. Those who need justice most are least likely to gain access to it. And those who have the most to contribute to the justice system - who have experienced it for themselves - are least likely to be heard.

The African Prisons Project, founded by our speaker Alexander McLean, seeks to turn this around. By empowering prisons and prison staff through legal services and training they seek to place the power of the law into the hands of the poor. Unique in their work is not that they offer free legal services within the prison walls, but that those who are empowered to provide them are the prisoners and prison guards themselves.

A reception in the Hesburgh Center's Great Hall will follow the talk.

Presented by the Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights, with cosponsorship by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.