Christina Plakas, a fourth-year doctoral student in criminology and criminal justice, began her social justice journey when she was working at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex.
She worked in the law library and saw first-hand how important access to legal resources are for people in the criminal justice system.
“Disparities do exist in what legal resources are available not just in one state, but across states, across the country,” she says. “That inspired my research on meaningful access to the courts.”
As Plakas looked for ways to deepen her understanding of the U.S. criminal justice system, she began looking at graduate programs and landed on the University of South Carolina.
“USC really stood out to me because the faculty are really engaged with the community,” she says. “I wanted a place where I would feel comfortable doing research, but also have advocacy work.”
While at USC, Plakas has led initiatives to empower people behind bars and has partnered with the Joseph F. Rice School of Law to gather and donate law books to local jails, including Richland County’s Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
“If you want to put forth a criminal or civil case, it really helps if you have legal support in the form of resources and guidance from other trained individuals,” she says. “One of the big problems was just not having access to law books.”
“Each person is going to develop their own personal narrative related to law and justice and the legal system. It gives a platform to voices that are often not heard and silenced.”
Christina Plakas
Her advocacy extends beyond resources. Plakas created — with the help of insights from currently and formerly incarcerated individuals — a career-readiness program at Alvin S. Glenn, focusing on equipping incarcerated women with essential skills for re-entry to the working world. Plakas leads the workshop with two other graduate students in her department and the program will resume in February.
“A few of these women in my career readiness program have stayed in touch with me afterwards, and they'll keep me updated with the jobs they’re applying for and all these ideas they have for what they're going to do next,” Plakas says. “It's nice to see that it's not just something happening on paper or just research … it’s actually changing people's lives.”
In the spring, Plakas plans to launch a storytelling workshop that will pair USC students with inmates and former inmates to develop and share personal narratives. She created this program with previous Social Justice Award winner Aparna Polavarapu and the South Carolina Restorative Justice Initiative.
“Each person is going to develop their own personal narrative related to law and justice and the legal system,” she says. “It gives a platform to voices that are often not heard and silenced.”
Her goal is to have a showcase where the storytellers can share their experiences with a public audience. “We just want to provide a very welcoming space where people can come in and learn more about the experiences of people impacted by the criminal legal system.”
Plakas work has had an impact on local prison populations, but also on her peers at South Carolina.
“Christina has exemplified what it means to be a criminology and criminal justice scholar and social advocate, reminding us of who we aim to support and uplift and demonstrating her commitment to equity in justice,” fellow graduate student Hannah Sedlacek said in nominating Plakas for the Social Justice Award. “She has been an inspiration to her peers, her professors, her students and those within the community she has worked to engage and assist.”