Explainer: Accessing legal resources for incarcerated Georgians with the Atlanta Community Support Project

Georgia has a bloated prison population. In 2025, roughly 881 Georgians per 100,000 are incarcerated—more than any independent democratic country on the planet. Luci Harrell says the prison system disproportionately impacts poor people who may not be able to afford adequate legal representation or who need help navigating the arcane and overly-complex criminal legal system.

Harrell is dedicated to addressing that issue. She is the founding director of Atlanta Community Support Project, a community-based organization dedicated to supporting those facing poverty and incarceration.

Their newly launched Toolkits Platform aims to provide incarcerated and released people with the resources they need to self-advocate—free of charge. 

Atlanta Community Press Collective spoke with Harrell to learn more about the platform.

The answers below have been edited for clarity and length.

What is ACSP’s Toolkits Platform?

It’s a resource hub for people directly impacted by the criminal legal system. We want people to be able to self-advocate, and we know they don’t have money to pay attorneys; this is our solution.

Essentially, the platform is designed to help people advocate in court or administrative agencies, file grievances against police or public officials, gain access to healthcare and higher education, navigate job or housing discrimination based on incarceration history, and engage with lawmakers and civic processes.

Who is this Toolkits Platform intended for? Could people detained by ICE use it?

This is for people who have been incarcerated and for family members who are actively supporting someone in prison. Those inside who don’t have advocates outside can write to us directly or request resources by mail. People in ICE or the Federal Bureau Of Prisons can use it as well. The platform is mostly Georgia-focused, but we do have materials on constitutional and federal law. We’re constantly building more resources, so the more people currently or formerly detained by ICE get involved with our community and request information, the more focus we can put on making those resources available.

What kind of information can people expect to find in the Toolkits?

They’re going to find legal and policy explainers. For example, we have a HIPAA explainer about what that policy means for people inside. We also have a “for us, by us” attorney review database, where people can request a review if they have an attorney they’re considering hiring, or they can submit one. They’ll find layman’s explanations of the process to lodge a complaint against an attorney with the Georgia Bar.

The toolkits also house a lot of filing templates. Federal courts use standard filing forms for different things; if someone wants to file a federal habeas petition, there’s two different types. We have both of the forms and an explainer of the difference between the two.

How can people access and use the Toolkits?

We want people to reach out to us directly. It’s a secure platform and we want to keep it for our community. Reach out with a brief introduction to info@atlcommunitysupport.org and write “Toolkits Access” in the subject line.

What does it mean for someone to self-represent?

It means not losing that right just because you can’t afford an attorney. The legal industry is set up to oppress and impoverish people, and already impoverished people come into this cycle and say, “Wait a minute, you can have justice if you have a lot of money?” Our courts are set up to discriminate against people who don’t have legal counsel, but we have a right to go at it directly. If more people did, I think that would change the landscape.

This came from my experience and the people around me. [I was] jailhouse lawyering for a long time and had to think outside the box on ways to get into court, file things and structure motions and arguments. ACSP can’t give people legal advice, but we want to give people everything that we can so that they understand all their options and rights, can make decisions and construct the most effective arguments. I’m paraphrasing, but George Jackson said, ‘You don’t do for the community what they can do for themselves.’ ACSP’s job is to open the door to the possibilities of what people can do for themselves, and to open it for all.

Are translated documents available for those who don’t speak English?

There are a few documents in English and Spanish. If people have a specific need, the line is always open. If you’re trying to file a specific thing or need something explained or pulled in terms of a law or policy issue, let us know so we can try to get it for you. 

What does ACSP hope to accomplish in the future with tools like this?

We are abolitionists. 

Ultimately, we want systems change—no more prisons, no more policing systems and no more barriers for people who get ascribed these labels. In a shorter time period, we have things like our pro bono initiative. 

We’re in the best position as an organization to be the glue between what people who have bar numbers on the outside can do, and what people practicing law inside prisons can do. If we come together on these specific issues that we’re pressing on from both sides, we can create bigger, faster systems change.

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