Bard Alum Works Within Prison System, Attends Cornell Law

Posse alumna Tayler Butler graduated from Bard College in 2017 and is now pursuing a law degree at Cornell University.

While at Bard, Tayler joined the renowned Bard Prison Initiative as a tutor for incarcerated men. The experience inspired her to continue work in the field; when she returned to New Orleans after graduation, she secured a similar position tutoring women in the Louisiana prison system.

Tayler’s work within correctional and judicial structures drove her to reflect on the privileges she has in the world as an educated Black woman. She acknowledges that she has been provided with opportunities that are not bestowed equally in society.

While at Bard, Tayler joined the renowned Bard Prison Initiative as a tutor for incarcerated men.

“I have been given second chances to reform myself from my mistakes—others were not,” Tayler says. “Rather than giving [these inmates] the opportunity to learn from their mistakes, many were punished without support to reform themselves.”

She says she has long been fascinated by the law and how legal rules are interpreted, spending free time reading and analyzing judicial opinions even before she committed to it as a career path. Tayler says she decided to study and practice law not because she wants to change legal systems, but rather to extract the equity she believes already exists in the law. She hopes to become an advocate for the allocation of that equity to those she defends.

At Cornell Law, Tayler plans to take part in the Exoneration Clinic, connecting her past work in the prison system with her emerging skills as a legal scholar. She aims for a future career in litigation.