Calvin Duncan was 19 in 1982 when the police arrested him for a murder-robbery in New Orleans. The eyewitness testimony at his trial was unreliable, but Duncan’s lawyer offered only a minimal defense, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
While in prison, Duncan studied law, hoping to appeal his case. In the process he became a jailhouse lawyer — officially as part of the Inmate Counsel Substitute Program at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.
“In places like Louisiana, once a conviction is upheld on direct appeal, we’re not entitled to a lawyer,” Duncan says. “[Jailhouse lawyers] actually provide legal assistance to those individuals that cannot afford an attorney.”…