Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners V. the USA

Imprisoned journalist and activist Mumia Abu-Jamal profiles the work of the jailhouse lawyer in the United States, offering a perspective of the law written from the bottom, in recognition that beyond the black and white of the law books and the statutes, "the law ain't nothing but whatta judge say the law is." In spite of that observation, made by Abu Jamal to an outside lawyer working with him on a civil action, he documents some successes by jailhouse lawyers in working on their own and others' cases while simultaneously presenting a critique of the way the American judicial system works against the less powerful in American society. Annotation 穢2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)