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7 Student Law. 16 (1978-1979)
Maxine Smith: The Faith of a Jailhouse Lawyer

handle is hein.journals/studlyr7 and id is 278 raw text is: Maxine Smith: the Faith of a Jailhouse Lawyer Twenty-two months in solitary would destroy most people. Not this woman Each morning she got up as soon as she awoke-usually when the morning light streamed through the one window in her room. She didn't know what time it was, and there was no way to find out. She would wash at the basin in the cor- ner, dress quickly and look out through the bars for a few minutes just to estab- lish some minimal contact with the world out there. All she could ever see was an expanse of fields and the rail- road tracks in the distance. If a train came by, she could watch it poke along for many minutes. Then she would sit down in the chair and start reading one of the big law books piled on the floor. She would keep reading, jotting down occasional notes on a little pad, until her breakfast was shoved in on a tray through a slot in the otherwise solid door. Sometimes the guard would say, Mornin', Maxine; sometimes not. But the food was always cold and she didn't have much appetite anyway. She by Robert McClory 16 STUDENT LAWYER