Chloe is one of PLAP’s Training Directors, a PLAP Office Hour supervisor, and a member of the JD class of 2026.
I joined the Prison Legal Assistance Project (PLAP) during the fall of my 1L year at the suggestion of an HLS alum. I didn’t know much about the organization or the criminal legal system at the time, but I am so glad that I followed her advice. Over the past three years, I have represented clients in prison disciplinary hearings and parole hearings, served on the PLAP board, and learned more from my clients and other PLAPpers than I ever could have anticipated.
One of the most meaningful aspects of PLAP is forming relationships with clients facing unimaginably restrictive and frustrating conditions in prison. These indignities are normally shielded from public view. Through PLAP, I and other student attorneys see them firsthand. Sometimes our involvement leads to victory––like when my friend Kent won a drug possession disciplinary case where the only evidence against his client was a lab report with another incarcerated person’s name on it. Other times we lose. In one disciplinary case I worked on, five officers entered our client’s cell, pinned him to the ground, and beat him over the head with fists and metal objects. The incident was caught on video, yet our client was the one found guilty of assault. Our frequent losses in disciplinary cases are perhaps unsurprising given that the correctional officer who writes the disciplinary report, the hearing officer who acts as the “judge,” and the disciplinary officer who acts as the “prosecutor” are all colleagues. But even when we lose, our clients are often grateful that we are there to witness and document the injustices they face every day. Because PLAP is one of the only organizations in Massachusetts that takes disciplinary hearing cases, the alternative to PLAP representation is typically no representation at all.
I also treasure the friendships I’ve formed with other PLAPpers through weekly office hours, social events, and long drives to prison to visit clients. This strong community not only enriches our law school experiences, but also fortifies our client representation. When my friend Ciara and I started representing our parole client, he had already appeared before the parole board once before, represented by PLAPpers who graduated a few years ago. These former student attorneys took time out of their busy schedules to lend their expertise and help us build our case. One of them even showed up to the parole hearing in person to support our client. This collaboration between past and current students was integral to our client ultimately securing parole. Similarly, I started working with a disciplinary hearing client during my 1L year whom my PLAP mentor had previously represented. Now, I am mentoring a new PLAPper representing that same client in a subsequent ticket.
The importance of passing down expertise from one generation of students to the next has also informed my work as a training director on the PLAP executive board. In this role, I aim to give current and future PLAPpers the training they need to provide excellent representation to their clients and sustain the PLAP community for many years to come.