Join Whitney Plantation on Thursday, November 20 from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. CT for an engaging discussion with co-authors Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull about Duncan’s memoir, The Jailhouse Lawyer.
We’ll explore this searing and ultimately hopeful account of Duncan, described by Sister Helen Prejean as “the most extraordinary jailhouse lawyer of our time.” Wrongfully convicted of murder, Duncan spent nearly thirty years at Angola Prison, where he became a skilled legal advocate. His story traces a powerful journey of self-education, determination, and ongoing work to support others still behind bars.
Register to reserve your spot for this FREE event, and purchase your copy of the book from the Whitney Plantation Gift Store.
About the Authors
Calvin Duncan is an adjunct instructor in the Tulane School of Professional Advancement, where he teaches Criminal Law. He is the director of the Light of Justice Program, a program assisting incarcerated individuals to overcome procedural barriers in accessing the court at the post-conviction relief stage of the criminal legal system. Charged with a capital crime he did not commit, at nineteen he was sentenced to life in prison and at Angola became a jailhouse lawyer assisting other prisoners seek justice from unlawful convictions, including those sentenced to Louisiana’s Death Row. Through his own advocacy and the work of Innocence Project New Orleans, he was freed on January 7, 2011 and on August 3, 2021, his plea was vacated, clearing him of the murder he did not commit. Duncan worked with the litigation team that led the United States Supreme Court to rule that Louisiana’s non-unanimous jury verdict law unconstitutional. He holds a J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School.
Sophie Cull is a criminal justice reform advocate whose work focuses on excessive sentencing and harsh punishments. She has led public education campaigns on racial discrimination in the criminal legal system and has published on the death penalty, life sentences, and prosecutorial misconduct. As part of the founding team of the Visiting Room Project, she helped create the world’s largest collection of filmed interviews with people serving life without parole. She began her career in New Orleans, assisting legal organizations defending individuals on Louisiana’s death row.
