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Order Lyle's books, below!

Available for order from Haymarket Books and Routledge

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Listen to Lyle's new Audio Newsletter Series below:

Audio Newsletter #2

For the second audio newsletter, listen to a discussion of some of the critical chapters from Witness: An Insider's Narrative of the Carceral State, including the Death Row Phenomenon, LWOP, Prison Journalism, and more.

Newsletter #2
00:00 / 11:37

"Witness: An Insider's View of the Carceral State:" Book Talk with Author Lyle C. May

Lyle May has spent over twenty years residing on death row in North Carolina. In the release of his book by Haymarket Books, he tells his story, offering a scathing critique of the carceral system through an abolitionist lens. In this talk which was coordinated with Dr. Maha Hilal's organization, Muslim Counterpublics Lab, and NLG + NLG chapter/committees, Lyle calls in from death row in fifteen minute increments, recounting his journey and discussing his important book which Mariame Kaba called “essential reading.”

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Scroll through the list to #8 to see Lyle's book and to see the other great authors he is accompanied by!

See Lyle's upcoming book, Witness, in the Innocence Project's list of the 11 best books of 2023!

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You can order Witness, here

The psychological torment and unconstitutionality of the state’s intent to kill

The threat of a death sentence creates a crucible of dehumanization that no one should have to experience and no one has the right to inflict. Read Lyle's newest article from Prism.

Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

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One of dozens of drawings by Guantánamo prisoner Abu Zubaydah depicts the torture he and other detainees suffered at the hands of U.S. interrogators. (Image: Abu Zubaydah)

Two Sides of the Same Coin: the Carceral State from Guantánamo Bay to Death Row

Read Lyle's latest article about how after September 11, 2001, the federal government saw an opportunity to legalize torture in a way that targeted another BIPOC community, and legitimized what it already does to its own citizens.

When Streaming Came to Prison

Read Lyle's newest article published on Slate.com about how, for decades, he relied on a communal TV to teach him about technology outside prison. Then came “streaming.”
Illustration by Anna Ruiz

Abolishing the Carceral State: From Death Row to Guantanamo Bay and Everything in Between

Lyle participated on a panel discussion featuring firsthand perspectives and an inside look on what it means to abolish the carceral state from those directly impacted by this system. Watch a recording of the panel here!

Want to send legal material, books, or
other publications to Lyle?

Use this address to mail Lyle:

​

Lyle C. May 0580028
Central Prison
1300 Western Blvd.

Raleigh, NC. 27606.

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