Interview With Christopher Zoukis, Prisoners’ Rights Advocate
By Katherine White
Christopher Zoukis is a prisoners’ rights advocate, and the author of Education Behind Bars: A Win-Win Strategy for Maximum Security (Sunbury Press, 2012). While incarcerated, Mr. Zoukis spends his time writing books, articles, blog posts, and school papers (he’s pursuing a degree in Business Administration). He also spends much of his time either in his prison’s law library or out and about consulting with those he assists with legal pleadings.
Prison Law Blog’s Katherine White interviewed him regarding his own prison experiences and the challenges he has faced as an impassioned prisoners’ rights activist and prison writer.
Katherine White: Why did you decide to use your time in prison to fight for the rights of other prisoners? That is, wouldn’t it be easier if you just did your time, as they say, and concentrated on your writing?
Christopher Zoukis: When I came to prison, it was a great shock to me to see how few prisoners were able to speak for themselves or assert their rights. To add to this, I was stunned at how often prison administrators seemed to just do as they pleased, even if their actions violated the law, or were clearly unconstitutional. I was despondent about such actions and felt that it would be up to me to protect myself. Legal study was the path I chose. And I used this legal study, prompted by witnessing the existing abuses, to motivate myself to help my fellow prisoners.
