Author: sdrescher

Ellie McCarty is a member of the JD class of 2028 from Ringwood, NJ. She is in Section 7.  

Q: How did you get involved in your first PLAP case? 
My client called in asking for representation for a disciplinary hearing in a few days during my office hours, so I requested his case, got a continuance, and Katrina Weinert mentored me on it. Our client had done a lot of advocacy for himself even before seeking representation. He had requested a lot of his own discovery, which helped us really tailor our combined motion to dismiss and discovery request. I had heard that these motions are really a formality and are rarely ever successful, so I was mostly writing that motion with a future appeal in mind.  

Q: What was the discovery process like? 
After submitting discovery, we got a lot of evidence back, even more than we expected. There were different incident reports, multiple BWC videos to review, photos, and more. Even though our client had received a lot of discovery himself, there was a lot of additional “view only” footage that he hadn’t been granted access to. We went to the prison and watched hours of footage. We thought that most of it would be redundant, but all the different angles and perspectives were actually very valuable. 

Q: What was the process of setting the hearing date like? 
We requested some additional view-only evidence that we knew they had, and in the meantime our client was transferred to a new prison. We finally got the hearing scheduled for right after finals, but the new prison decided to postpone the hearing at the last minute. We then had to go to a different prison to see the new “view only” evidence, so the date was delayed even further.  

Q: What did you do after reviewing all the discovery? 
We kept in touch with the disciplinary officer, who sent us a disciplinary report from our client’s cellmate with new information that was exculpatory for our client. After considering all of this, the hearing officer reviewed our client’s file the morning of the hearing and decided to grant our motion to dismiss. 

Q: What was the most impactful part of working on the case? 
Even though we didn’t get to the hearing, the opportunity to refute what was a lazy and nonsensical accusation was really meaningful. And for our client, I know it meant a lot to see his perspective and experience vindicated through the evidence and our argument.  

Abigail Moats is in the JD class of 2026, is from Ames, Iowa, and was in Section 5.  

Q: When did you join PLAP and why? 
I joined PLAP in the fall of my 3L year. I was motivated by my summer cubicle-mate, Maddie, one of the Parole Directors, to join! After spending two summers working at public defender services and working at the front end of the legal system, I wanted to learn about what you can do to mitigate harm when someone is already in prison at the back end and PLAP seemed like a good way to do so before I join CPCS as a public defender after graduation.  

Q: What was the first case you worked on like? 
My client has been a PLAP client for decades, John first represented him in the 1990s. Last year, he received a positive parole vote and was placed in a minimum-security facility as part of his release plan. While there, he received multiple disciplinary tickets, which led to his transfer to a medium-security facility, additional discipline, and ultimately a parole rescission hearing. 

Q: What was the best part of working on this case? 
Since our client has been a PLAP client for decades, he has built really close relationships with many of the PLAP student attorneys he has worked for. One former student attorney is now a professor at the University of Colorado and runs the innocence clinic there and they have stayed in touch since she represented him with PLAP. He is really excited to come to Harvard to speak with PLAP students once his parole is granted. 

Q: What happened in the case? 
The parole officer suggested we submit a memo to the parole board highlighting evidentiary issues involved in his d-tickets, including problems with drug testing. So, we prepared that memo and reiterated the strength of his original parole application, including his supportive family. We’ve also filed appeals on both D-tickets and are still waiting on the parole board’s decision. 

Q: What has been the most impactful part of PLAP for you? 
Our clients live in an environment where the DOC controls every aspect of their lives and by providing representation, we help them in one of the only ways to fight back against that. For anyone planning to be a public defender, understanding what happens inside the DOC, especially around discipline and parole, is really important knowledge and very relevant to our future work. 

Emma Griffin is a member of the JD class of 2028, is in Section 5, and is from Savannah, GA.

Q: When did you join PLAP and why? I joined PLAP during the fall semester of 1L because I wanted to see how what we were learning in class would look like in practice. I had worked at a public defender’s office for a semester in undergrad, but I wanted to gain more experience in post-conviction work. It was immensely gratifying to be reminded of why I came to law school in the first place and have the opportunity to work directly with clients again. 

Q: What was the first case you worked on like? What happened in the case? The first case I worked on was a contraband case in which our client was accused of stealing food from the cafeteria despite having permission from one of the DOC staff members to take it, as well as having a medical accommodation allowing him to have food in his room. In his defense, we highlighted this medical accommodation, and we used video surveillance footage to show other DOC staff members allowing him to walk by with the food in plain sight. We were able to get a majority of his charges dropped, and we are currently working on his appeal. 

Q: What was the best part of working on this case? The best park of working on this case was getting to know our client and ensuring he felt heard. He was understandably very surprised when he received a D-Ticket for behavior that he had been given permission to do, so making sure he felt he had proper recourse to tell his side of the story was important. I really enjoyed speaking with him and working with him to incorporate what he thought the most important parts of his defense should be into our hearing script. 

Q: What was the hardest part of working on this case? How long it ended up dragging on. Due to having to coordinate schedules, waiting to view in-person evidence, and having to take time off for winter break, our client had to wait a few months for a resolution. Thankfully, my PLAP mentors, Daniel Sorkin and Patrick Healy, were incredibly responsive, and we were able to assure our client that we were continuously advocating for him. 

Q: What are you working on now? I am now mentoring a case for another PLAP member, and I am excited to see how the experience is different from a mentor perspective! 

Q: What has been the most impactful part of PLAP for you? The most impactful part of PLAP has definitely been getting to meet other law students interested in public interest work, specifically surrounding incarceration. While the work can be emotionally taxing, working with dedicated and passionate individuals helps keep me motivated, and I’m excited to continue meeting new members as they join! 

Kevin Williams is a member of the JD class of 2026. He was in section 2 and is from Churchville, MD. 

Q: When did you join PLAP and why? I joined PLAP during the fall of my 2L year. My biggest regret is that I waited until then! I had some interest in defense work and PLAP felt like a great opportunity to see how if felt to stand up for someone against a government agency trying to punish them. 

Q: What have you worked on during your time in PLAP? I’ve worked almost exclusively on D-Tickets. Since I wanted to gain experience representing a client in a proceeding, taking a D-Ticket was the quickest way to guarantee that. Plus, it’s a little bit more adversarial and allows me the chance to cross COs when I know they’re making things up. I don’t love confrontation, but I think a healthy outlet for that can do a lot for confidence. 

Q: You have mentored a TON of cases. What has that been like? Mentoring has been a great experience in PLAP because I get to give back to the community, extend my knowledge and experience to a larger number of cases, and meet lots of great people. PLAP is a huge organization, and everyone in it has an interesting story and perspective on the work we do. I find mentoring to be a great way to get to know a lot of those people. Separately, I think mentoring is a good way for me to help a larger number of clients. With relatively little effort, I can help 4 or 5 clients instead of just one at a time. 

Q: What are some of the most memorable parts of being in PLAP over the last few years? Every case has been memorable in some way. I got a not guilty finding on my first D-Ticket, which was an amazing feeling. At a recent case, the Hearing Officer approached us before the hearing began and asked if he was missing some evidence from the D Officer because he had so little, and that was a nice confidence boost going into the hearing. He then told us as soon as we got done with the hearing and off the recording that he was going to issue a not guilty finding for a lack of evidence. Even when I’m involved in a hearing that doesn’t go well, hearing the appreciation from clients is the best part. A lot of them haven’t had anyone listen to their stories during their incarceration, and much less had anyone stand up for them to COs or D Officers. It’s always great to empower the clients in that way. 

Q: What are you working on now? I have one case where the client was accused of fighting another inmate, but claims it was in self-defense. In another, the client is charged (literally) with starting a demonstration after complaining to a class teacher that he wasn’t releasing them from class quickly enough. The last client was accused of being under the influence but officers didn’t confiscate any contraband and he passed a brief sobriety test.  

Q: What has been the most impactful part of PLAP for you? Certainly the impact we can have on clients. Nothing is more rewarding than having a client thank you for listening to their story or advocating for them at a D-Hearing. It’s really a small thing we can do that, from what I can tell, is incredibly meaningful to them. I would also say taking on cases in PLAP has helped me become a lot more confident in myself. Having to representsomeone else’s interests drives me to stand up for my position more against parties who have opposite interests. It has also helped me to realize that being firm in my position, when supported by evidence, is not only justified, but is also the way to achieve the outcome I want. 

J Souvaliotis is a member of the class of 2028, is in Section 1, and is from Houston, TX. 

When did you join PLAP and why? I joined PLAP my first semester of my 1L year. I wanted to get experience working with clients and to make a real substantive difference in people’s lives. Prisons are not the best environment, and helping incarcerated people get better treatment is a really meaningful thing to be able to do.  

What have you worked on during your time in PLAP and why did you choose those cases? I’m currently working on a D-Ticket where we are waiting on discovery. I also signed up to work on the amicus brief over winter break. Wesley mentioned it in office hours and I knew I was going to be mostly sitting at home over break. I appreciated the chance to get a different perspective from the types of things we normally do in PLAP. 

What was the experience of working on the amicus brief like? It was nice to be productive for a few afternoons over break and use my legal research skills for something more interesting than the bear memo. We were preparing a 50 state survey on the legality of force feeding during hunger strikes, so I was looking for any rulings or statutes on the issue. I was focusing on the 10th Circuit, and going state by state looking for any precedent there.  

What was the most interesting or surprising part of working on that brief? I saw that prisoners have such a limited capability for speaking up for themselves in prison. You hear this from PLAP clients, they say that they being mistreated but there is little they can do about it unless they get a D-Ticket and they fight it. A lot of the ways for a prisoner to stand up for themselves are through constrained administrative processes and often restricted by the Prison Litigation Reform Act. If you want to sue, you have to probably represent yourself pro se or find the rare lawyer who has the time and willingness to take your case. Against this backdrop, the only way to be able to exercise autonomy is to go on hunger strike and even that is so limited: Do people on the outside actually hear about it? If they do, who actually pays attention to it? If not, is it worth it to just protest to the guards?  

What has been the most impactful part of PLAP for you? Just picking up the phone and talking to prisoners and reading their letters. I knew that prison is bad, but actually being able to talk through people’s problems and hear about how they’re mistreated really shines a light on the situation. A lot of people call who are trying to manage their own case, either a criminal appeal or with regards to their civil rights in the prison, and they don’t have access to legal resources. It’s really motivating to come to office hours and feel like I can stand up for someone today, even a little bit. 

Reilly Johnson is a member of the JD class of 2027 and is from Hamilton, OH. She was in section 5. 

What have you worked on during your time in PLAP and why did you choose those cases? I’ve worked on a couple drug-related d tickets and am currently on a parole case for someone who has been incarcerated for almost 50 years. I really like drug cases because it’s so interesting to learn about what life is like in prison, what the informal economy is like, and how prison security works. I didn’t realize how porous the walls of the prison were, and I’ve been shocked to learn how much money changes hands outside of the prison based on things that happen in the prison. Family members send each other money, send money into the prison, and receive money on the outside of the prison for things that happen in the prison.  

What made you want to start working on a parole case after taking so many D-tickets? A lot of my professional goals are around getting people out of prison and keeping them out of prison and parole is really the best way to do that in PLAP. We’ve met with our client a ton of times, we talk every week, and have built up a really nice relationship. Now we’re writing the memo where we’re writing about everything that ever happened to him in his entire life! 

What has been the most impactful part of PLAP for you? I have really liked getting to know all the people in prison, it’s really rewarding to be someone who is helpful to helpful to them when everyone is so horrible to them all the time. It is also really interesting to learn how life is different day to day for someone whose life is different from you. Mentoring has also been really nice – I’ve been lucky to have great mentors and it’s been great to help someone have all the cool experiences I’ve been able to have.  

What do you think people who aren’t in PLAP should know about PLAP? I think everyone who puts people behind bars should be required to be in PLAP and see what life is like in prison. You need to know what that sentence really is.