Sophia Opferman (BA ’24) (she/her)
Tangible Abolition Through the Lens of Legal Empowerment
This project, conducted in collaboration with the Jailhouse Lawyers Initiative, probes the persistence of criminal justice reform in favor of abolition. Reform has proven inadequate in addressing the injustices of incarceration while failing to ensure rehabilitation, an end to recidivism, and lower crime rates. This research asks what abolition is, why we need abolition, and what tangible approaches to abolition look like. In investigating tangible abolition, Sophia focuses specifically on legal empowerment – an international approach to justice accessibility – and its connection to jailhouse lawyers.