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Legal resources for people in prison in New York

Prisoners' Legal Services of New York

41 State Street, Suite M112

Albany, NY 12207

http://www.plsny.org/

(518) 445-6050 (fax)

518-445-6053 (phone)


Serves: NY


Focus area/description: Prisoners' Legal Services of New York (PLS) provides free civil legal services to indigent New York state prisoners on issues associated with their conditions of confinement and immigration removals. The decision to assist with any particular case depends on the issue or problem presented, the chance of success, the amount of time and resources necessary to properly assist, the office's resources, staff availability and caseload. PLS is also happy to provide self-help and informational materials to prisoners.

Requests for assistance should be sent to the PLS office that provides legal assistance to the incarcerated individuals at the prison where they client is in custody. Below is a list of PLS offices and the prisons from which each office accepts requests for assistance:

Albany
41 State St., Suite M112
Albany NY 12207
518-438-8046 (phone) (518)438-6643 (fax)

SERVES: Adirondack, Altona, Bare Hill, Clinton, CNYPC, Coxsackie, Eastern, Edgecombe, Franklin, Gouverneur, Great Meadow, Greene, Hale Creek, Hudson, Marcy, Mid-State, Mohawk, Otisville, Queensboro, Riverview, Shawangunk, Sullivan, Ulster, Upstate, Wallkill, Walsh, Washington, Woodbourne

Albany Immigration Unit
41 State St., Suite M112
Albany NY 12207
518-694-8699 (phone)

Ithaca
114 Prospect St.
Ithaca NY 14850
607-273-2283 (phone) 607-272-9122 (fax)

SERVES: Auburn, Cape Vincent, Cayuga, Elmira, Five Points, Southport, Watertown, Willard

Buffalo
14 Lafayette Square, Suite 510
Buffalo NY 14203
716-854-1007 (phone) 716-854-1008 (fax)

SERVES: Albion, Attica, Collins, Gowanda, Groveland, Lakeview, Livingston, Orleans, Rochester, Wende, Wyoming

Buffalo Immigration Unit
14 Lafayette Square, Suite 510
Buffalo NY 14203
716-844-8266 (phone)

Newburgh
10 Little Britain Rd
Ste. 201 & 2014
Newburgh, NY 12550
845-391-3110 (phone) 845-684-3372 (fax)

SERVES: Bedford Hills, Fishkill, Green Haven, Sing Sing, Taconic

Prisoners' Legal Services of New York confirmed this listing on July 25, 2024.


These national self-help guides may be useful to people in prison in New York:

The Jailhouse Lawyers Manual is a free guide to legal rights and procedures designed for people in prison. It contains nine sections designed to help incarcerated people learn about their rights, file lawsuits in both state and federal court, attack their conviction or sentence, and address the conditions of their imprisonment. It also contains information about the rights of incarcerated people related to health, safety, religious freedom, and more. We suggest accessing the online version of the manual and mailing the relevant chapters to your incarcerated loved one.

The Jailhouse Lawyers Handbook is a free resource for people in prison who want to file a federal lawsuit addressing poor conditions in prison or abuse by prison staff. This guide will not help challenge convictions or sentences or provide guidance on actions in state courts. It also has 14 appendices that provide sample complaints, legal forms, and guidance on how to reach out to journalists, among other topics. You can download relevant chapters of the handbook and mail them to your incarcerated loved one or request to have a copy mailed to them.

A challenge to our colleagues:

We built the internet's first always-up-to-date list of legal services for incarcerated people. Can you make a similar list for a different kind of resource?

Problem: There are too many outdated resource lists floating around.

Our Solution: Have one resource list that one organization checks each year.

Our Method: Inspired by the Cincinnati Books for Prisoners group, we made a list of every legal services organization on every resource list we could find. Then we send a letter by snail mail to each organization each year asking them to confirm/update their listing. If they respond, we include them on the site for the next 365 days. All the organization needs to do is to sign the form we send them and mail it back in the enclosed envelope. If they don't respond, we keep them on our mailing list and try again next year.

This way, any incarcerated person using the list can be assured that the organization they are writing to recently did exist and was responding to mail. And if an organization fails to respond for some reason (staff turnover, postal problems, the dog ate our letter, etc.) they get another chance next year.

It's a win for everyone. We've built a database for legal services. What list can your organization edit?



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