Beyond Courts Book, Study Guide & Zine for Inside / Outside Political Education
Beyond Criminal Courts is a collection of resources created for organizers, advocates and community members working together to build the organizing power we need to defund, divest, and ultimately to dismantle criminal courts for good. In search of a way to make our resources available for people inside prisons and jails, Community Justice Exchange partnered with Haymarket Books to transform what was originally a web-based resource hub (https://beyondcourts.org/) into a bound book that can be shipped directly inside prisons and jails.
CJE also collaborated with imprisoned organizer and educator Stevie Wilson to develop a study guide for individuals and study groups inside prisons and jails to use while reading Beyond Courts. In addition to the study guide, Stevie developed a zine adaptation of Chapter 2 “Common Questions About Criminal Court Reform.” The zine was beautifully illustrated by imprisoned artist Omar Miranda.
When asked why create zines, Stevie wrote, “Zines are a great format to accomplish popular political education. It is time we, as a movement, return to shorter formats. We need more pamphlets, booklets and zines. We need formats that a person can read in one sitting. The people we need to win, the people we need to bring into the work, often don’t have hours of free time. Smaller formats, like zines, written in accessible language, enable us to introduce and on-ramp people to abolitionist ideas and work.”
The study guide and zine are available for download. We encourage you to print and send both to your family members, friends, and comrades inside prisons and jails. If you would like to send the Beyond Courts book to imprisoned people directly from Haymarket Books, or purchase it for yourself or others on the outside, you can order copies through Haymarket’s website below. If you are interested in sending bulk orders inside, or are part of an inside / outside collective and want to learn more, please contact us at beyondcourts@communityjusticeexchange.org.
We’d love to hear from your people on the inside!
If you sent the Beyond Courts book, study guide, and/or zine to people on the inside, we would love to hear their reactions and feedback if they are willing to share. You can fill out the feedback form below or email us at beyondcourts@commmunityjusticeexchange.org. Some guiding questions for feedback:
Are the book / study guide / zine useful tools for understanding concepts around criminalization, the courts, and the Prison Industrial Complex?
What did you like about the way the information was presented and what did you not like?
Are there other forms (shorter or longer written materials, movies, etc) that you think would make this information easier to access inside prisons?
How did the process of receiving this book and study guide feel? Is there anything that would have made the process smoother?
What were your reactions to what was written in the book or zine, and what were your takeaways?
If you engaged in discussion with others about the book or zine, where did the discussion take you? Did you all agree with what was written, or were there debates about any of the concepts inside?
What do you think was missing, or there needed to be more of ?