jailhouse lawyer

noun

Definitions

  1. A person incarcerated in a prison, jail, etc., who has acquired significant knowledge of…

    A person incarcerated in a prison, jail, etc., who has acquired significant knowledge of the justice system and who is able to represent himself in some legal proceedings and to provide legal advice to other prisoners.

    • As something of a jailhouse lawyer, he has gathered affidavits attesting to abusive treatment by guards at the center, informed detainees of their legal rights and helped them write letters of appeal.
    • Once there, he became a jailhouse lawyer, filing complaints about everything from prison food to his attorneys.
    • Thus, the justices held that unless the state could provide some reasonable alternative type of legal assistance, a jailhouse lawyer must be permitted to aid inmates in filing habeas corpus petitions.

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sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA