Remi Abiodun

The Project

Remi (she/her/hers) advanced advocacy for children in adult prisons serving life without parole sentences in Louisiana. This project (1) improved prison conditions; (2) ensured education and rehabilitation, and (3) developed mitigation.

Despite legal and cultural change, Louisiana routinely condemns children to life without parole. Under recent changes to Louisiana law, some juveniles originally sentenced to life without parole could become eligible for parole hearings, providing an opportunity for release after serving twenty-five years in prison. A child’s success navigating the prison environment is critical to their parole hearing outcome. Remi’s project provided the necessary structural support to children navigating the adult prison environment and ensured access to education, self-improvement, and rehabilitation programs.

Remi is inspired to do this work because this is home. “The work of juvenile justice is what I want. And the people of Louisiana are who I want to do it with.”

Fellowship Highlights

The overarching goal of this Fellowship project was to ensure that juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) clients were treated humanely and recognize the fact that they are, or were, children while incarcerated. Remi provided legal and informal advocacy for clients while incarcerated to ensure their humane treatment and increased their likelihood of success in their eventual parole hearings. The strategies for achieving this goal included: (1) providing civil legal and administrative advocacy to incarcerated JLWOP clients, (2) creating a practitioner’s guide for incarceration-based lawyering, and (3) administering Know Your Rights seminars.