Alexander McLean (activist)

Last updated

Alexander McLean
Born1985 (age 37–38)
NationalityBritish
Alma mater University of Nottingham, University of London
Known forFounder of African Prisons Project

Alexander McLean (born 1985) is a British activist, [1] humanitarian, [2] and lawyer. [3] He is the founder of Justice Defenders (formerly African Prisons Project, or APP), which is based in Uganda and seeks to improve the lives of people imprisoned in Africa. [1]

Contents

Life and work

McLean was born in 1985 [2] and grew up in the "southern outskirts of London." [4] His father is Jamaican and worked as a retired tool maker while his mother was from Surrey and worked for United Airways. [2] He has an older brother and sister. [2]

McLean attended Kingston Grammar School, having been awarded a scholarship. [2] At a young age, he became fascinated with social issues and the criminal justice system. [2] [3] In his teens, he worked for a quadriplegic who suffered from multiple sclerosis and volunteered at a hospice. [2]

After high school, McLean visited Uganda to volunteer as a hospice worker [3] at the Mulago hospital in Kampala. [5] There, he was motivated to start Justice Defenders in 2007 [6] after observing that prison inmates were not given proper medical care [2] [7] and seeing the conditions at Luzira Upper Prison. [8] After coming back to the United Kingdom, McLean fund-raised to provide good health facilities and educate inmates in Ugandan prisons about the law, beginning the organization. [6] [9]

McLean attended the University of Nottingham, graduating in 2007. [1] He was the first in his family to earn a university degree. [4] After graduation, he moved to Kampala, where he created a team of local and international staff and volunteers with the goal of professionalizing the African Prisons Project and increasing its impact. [1]

McLean studied at the University of London by correspondence, receiving a Master of Laws in 2009 and being called to the bar of England and Wales in 2010. [1]

Honors and awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Bell</span> Place in Central Uganda, Uganda

Port Bell is a small industrial centre in the greater metropolitan Kampala area, in Uganda. Port Bell has a rail link and a railroad ferry wharf used for International traffic across Lake Victoria to Tanzania and Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana State Penitentiary</span> American maximum-security prison farm

The Louisiana State Penitentiary is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is named "Angola" after the former slave plantation that occupied this territory. The plantation was named after the country of Angola from which many slaves originated before arriving in Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ADX Florence</span> Federal supermax prison located in Fremont County, Colorado, US

The United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility, commonly known as ADX Florence or Supermax, is an American federal prison in Fremont County near Florence, Colorado, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. ADX Florence, constructed in 1994 and opened one year later, is classed as a supermax or "control unit" prison, that provides a higher, more controlled level of custody than a maximum security prison. ADX Florence forms part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Florence, which is situated on 49 acres of land and houses different facilities with varying degrees of security, including the adjacent United States Penitentiary, Florence High.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison education</span> Educational activities inside prisons

Prison education is any educational activity that occurs inside prison. Courses can include basic literacy programmes, secondary school equivalency programmes, vocational education, and tertiary education. Other activities such as rehabilitation programs, physical education, and arts and crafts programmes may also be considered a form of prison education. Programmes are typically provided, managed, and funded by the prison system, though inmates may be required to pay for distance education programmes. The history of and current practices in prison education vary greatly among countries.

Luzira is a suburb of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. It is best known for the country's main prison, Luzira Maximum Security Prison, which has seen significant redevelopment thanks to the work of African Prisons Project, a charity based in the UK and Kampala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HM Prison Frankland</span> Mens prison in County Durham, England

HM Prison Frankland is a Category A men's prison located in the village of Brasside in County Durham, England. Frankland is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is located next to HM Prison Low Newton, a closed women's prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Medical Facility</span> Prison medical facility in Vacaville, California

California Medical Facility (CMF) is a male-only state prison medical facility located in the city of Vacaville, Solano County, California. It is older than California State Prison, Solano, the other state prison in Vacaville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Medical Center, Lexington</span> United States federal prison in Kentucky

The Federal Medical Center, Lexington is a United States federal prison in Kentucky for male or female inmates requiring medical or mental health care. It is designated as an administrative facility, which means that it holds inmates of all security classifications. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp for female inmates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States incarceration rate</span> Incarceration rate of the United States

According to the latest available data at the World Prison Brief on May 7, 2023, the United States has the sixth highest incarceration rate in the world, at 531 people per 100,000. Between 2019 and 2020, the United States saw a significant drop in the total number of incarcerations. State and federal prison and local jail incarcerations dropped by 14% from 2.1 million in 2019 to 1.8 million in mid-2020. In 2018, the United States had the highest incarceration rate in the world.

Justice Defenders is a registered UK charity and U.S. nonprofit working in prison communities across Africa. Through legal education, training, and practice, Justice Defenders equips prisoners and prison officers to facilitate legal processes. It establishes law practices within prisons, provides free services, and runs legal awareness clinics for prisoners. And in partnership with academic institutions, it tutors and facilitates law degrees for prisoners and prison officers. Justice Defenders was founded in 2007 by the British activist Alexander McLean, who is currently the director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allan B. Polunsky Unit</span> State prison in West Livingston, Texas formerly known as the Terrell Unit

Allan B. Polunsky Unit is a prison in West Livingston, unincorporated Polk County, Texas, United States, located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Livingston along Farm to Market Road 350. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the facility. The unit houses the State of Texas death row for men, and it has a maximum capacity of 2,900. Livingston Municipal Airport is located on the other side of FM 350. The unit, along the Big Thicket, is 60 miles (97 km) east of Huntsville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison</span> Institution in which people are legally physically confined

A prison, also known as a jail, gaolpenitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are confined against their will and denied a variety of freedoms under the authority of the state, generally as punishment for various crimes. Authorities most commonly use prisons within a criminal-justice system: people charged with crimes may be imprisoned until their trial; those who have pled or been found guilty of crimes at trial may be sentenced to a specified period of imprisonment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luzira Maximum Security Prison</span> Ugandas only maximum security prison.

Luzira Maximum Security Prison is a maximum security prison for both men and women in Uganda. As at July 2016, it is the only maximum security prison in the country and houses Uganda's death row inmates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobi Wine</span> Ugandan opposition leader, musician, activist, and actor

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known by his stage name Bobi Wine, is a Ugandan politician, singer, and actor. He is a former Member of Parliament for Kyadondo County East constituency in Wakiso District, in Uganda's Central Region. He also leads the National Unity Platform political party. In June 2019, he announced his candidacy for the 2021 Ugandan presidential election. He participated in the 2021 election, in which, according to official results, he lost to the incumbent Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, although he claims this result was fraudulent.

The JLOS House Project, is a proposed three-component government office development project in Uganda's capital city of Kampala, to house the offices of the Justice, Law and Order Sector (JLOS). The three components of the project are:

Murchison Bay Hospital is a hospital in the Central Region of Uganda. This facility serves as the national referral hospital for prisoners in the Uganda Prisons Service.

Lucy Finch is a palliative nurse who has worked in several African countries and founded a hospice in Malawi – Ndi Moyo – "the place giving life".

Richard Buteera, also Richard Butera, is a Ugandan lawyer and judge who has served as a member of the Supreme Court of Uganda since September 2017. Immediately prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as a Justice of the Uganda Court of Appeal.

Lady Edwina Louise Snow is an English criminologist, philanthropist and prison reformer. She is a founder and a trustee of the charity The Clink, and founder of the charity One Small Thing. She is the sister of Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster.

Mhoira E.H. LengFRSE MBChB MRCP(UK) FRCP(Ed and Glas) is one of the first Scottish specialists in palliative care, who has developed the palliative care services internationally, working in Eastern Europe, India and Africa and advises international institutions and agencies on palliative care in the developing world. In 2021, Leng was admitted as one of the new female Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Alexander McLean | TED Fellow | TED.com". www.ted.com. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Williams, Sally (8 April 2011). "An English prison reformer in Kampala". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "How African prisoners are learning to fight for their own rights". ideas.ted.com. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Alexander McLean | Ashoka United Kingdom". uk.ashoka.org. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "Giving prisoners a break | On the Up". www.ontheup.org.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  6. 1 2 Batist, Danielle. "Unlocking potential – inmates study their way out of African prisons : January 2015 : Contributoria - people supporting journalism". www.contributoria.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  7. ↑ Standard, Pacific (2 April 2015). "The 30 Top Thinkers Under 30: The Non-Profit Founder Who Advocates Surrounding Yourself With… — Pacific Standard". Medium. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "African Prisons Project - The Rumi Foundation". The Rumi Foundation. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  9. ↑ admin (26 August 2014). "From forgotten prisoner to University graduate". Virgin. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  10. ↑ Begley, Sarah. "These Are the 30 People Under 30 Changing the World". Time. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.