Reading for Access to Justice: The Jailhouse Lawyer by Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull

It's June-- are you looking for your first Summer Reading pick? The American Bar Association recently announced the winner of their 2026 Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts. The award recognizes "outstanding work that fosters the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system" and includes books, film, and other media. This year, the memoir The Jailhouse Lawyer by Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull joins the ranks of books and media like Killers of the Flower Moon, Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence, and Marriage Equality: From Outlaws to In-Laws in receiving this honor. 

The book focuses not only on the life of Calvin Duncan, former "inmate counsel substitute" at Angola Prison, now an attorney and elected Clerk of Criminal Court for Orleans Parish, but his perspective on access to justice and its barriers in the criminal legal system. In his own words, Duncan writes, "It explores the cases I worked on, the obstacles I faced, and the fight for justice inside a system designed to keep poor people out of the courts." Duncan's memoir, as told by Sophie Cull, expertly describes real-life struggles of incarcerated people to learn the law, access legal materials, and obtain case records and exonerating evidence. He sprinkles in moving, often intense, human stories to his legal pursuits to help men meet impossibly tight deadlines and fight against shocking conditions and abuse inside of his Louisiana prison unit.

Image source: www.CalvinDuncan.com

Duncan's story speaks to the ethos of access to justice that is near and dear to the heart of many law librarians. In his book he recounts the leadership of Dora Rabalais in the Legal Programs Department, who "watched it [the Inmate Counsel Substitute program] blossom from six inmates with a limited library of donated books and one or two typewriters in 1975 to a staff of 60, a complete law library with WestLaw access, and a computer for each staffer". His admiration for her work shines through his text and shows the power of access to information and support from legal counsel for those inside the walls. Once considered the “most brilliant legal mind in Angola Prison”, he continues to record the history and patrons of the Angola Prison Law Library in his Substack writings today.

Since the publication of his memoir Mr. Duncan has devoted himself to access to justice in his campaign for Clerk of Criminal Court of Orleans Parish. He has poignantly stated that he is motivated to facilitate access to case records for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people because he has seen the profound difference it can make, including whether someone returns home or dies in prison. We love an access to justice hero, and Calvin Duncan embodies that spirit! Check out the list of all the Silver Gavel Award winners on their official announcement page. You can learn more about access to justice for incarcerated persons and Calvin Duncan's work in the links below. 

Further reading:

• Silver Gavel Awards

• Access to Legal Information in Prisons - Ithaka S+R

• The Present and Future of Prison Libraries and Incarcerated Patrons - EveryLibrary Action

• Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People Initiative | San Francisco Public Library

• A Tour of Angola's Law Library - by Calvin Duncan

• A Relentless Jailhouse Lawyer Propels a Case to the Supreme Court - The New York Times

• [Content Warning: minor use of profanity in the interview] Calvin Duncan: Getting the Records Straight - ANTIGRAVITY Magazine

• We Helped Each Other. We Taught Each Other the Law | The Lens NOLA

• Louisiana Republicans eliminate elected office won by Democratic exoneree | Louisiana | The Guardian