1. Discuss why Martin Sostre is known as the "Father of the Modern Prisoners' Rights Movement and why Shapiro believes he should be
remembered.
2. Discuss how Sostre became involved with religion while in prison
and how this impacted other prisoner's abilities to challenge the law.
3. Explain why the first black female judge appointed to the federal
bench ruled Sostre should be released from solitary confinement in
1969. What message did this send to prison wardens?
4. How does Sostre describe the difference between his freedom inside
of prison and his freedom outside of prison?
5. In what way did Sostre and his bookstore eventually become the
target of authorities?

1. Martin Sostre is known as the "father of the modern prisoners' rights movement" because of his lifetime achievement.He was an activist that was arrested through fabricated evidence and sentenced for 41 years in prison. In that place, he became jailhouse lawyers that helped prisoners winning many cases on inhumane treatment in prisons.

2. Sostre read history and the Constitution carefully and believed his right to practice the religion of his choice was a fundamental freedom and that inmates had rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, including the right to challenge prison conditions

3. He had been punished for legal political activities and beliefs. The ruling set the boundaries for the fight against solitary confinement that continues to this day.

4. He says his freedom inside prison was limited and his freedom outside was unlimited, he could do whatever he wanted to do.

5. His Bookstore became an important place for political discussion in NY and Martin became a political target for the police. In 1967 the racial conflicts were intense and Martin was accused of drug dealer.

6. Sostre now had advocates all around him, he was more exposed to people of his kind that shared his beliefs.

7. The governor found a way to free Sostre without assessing whether or not he was guilty or innocent of drug crime in buffalo.

8. In 1984, Sostre shot a man, a tenant he was evicting from a building he was managing. Sostre feared if he were sent to prison he'd die there. So he fled New York.

9. I think that he deserves to be remembered because his case set precedent with the rulings against him, he also stood up for what he believed in and suffered for that, so he deserves to be remembered.

constructive criticism