Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

Chairman W.D. Jennings, Ph.D.
Publication Review Committee
Virginia Department of Corrections
PO Box 26963
Richmond, VA 23261-6963

25 November 2007

Chairman Jennings,

We have received your recent letter notifying us that 10 issues of our newspaper have been rejected for violating Operating Procedure 803.2. MIM Notes has been censored at Red Onion multiple times in recent months for allegedly violating Operating Procedure 803.2 and 852. In that time we have made a number of efforts to find out what these Operating Procedures are and how MIM Notes has violated them. To further these efforts, I am requesting that you send us a copy of your Operating Procedures and explain to us how MIM Notes has violated them.

Also please note, that while MIM Distributors uses the Los Angeles address for their publications and distribution, or legal office is currently based out of San Francisco. By corresponding with me through the address above we can ensure more efficient communications.

We look forward to receiving the above requested material so we can work to remedy this problem.

Thank you,

Deputy Director
Division of Operations
Virginia Department of Corrections
PO Box 26963
Richmond, VA 23261-6963

25 November 2007

Deputy Director,

We recently received the enclosed letter from Chairman Jennings of the Publication Review Committee. This is one of a number of incidents in recent months where MIM Notes has been censored by the Virginia Department of Corrections for allegedly violating Operating Procedure 803.2 or 852.

We would like to take this opportunity to request an independent review of these decisions. It is still unclear to us the reasoning for the censorship as our past requests for explanations and copies of the Operating Procedures have not yet been met. However, the enclosed letter does state that MIM Notes ?could be detrimental to the security and good order of the institution and the rehabilitation of inmates.? As an organization MIM has put enormous energy and resources into the education and rehabilitation of prisoners throughout the country. And there is nothing in our newspaper that could be construed to support any sort of illegal or unruly activities as this would undermine our aforementioned efforts and goals. In this light, I hope you will agree that the censorship of MIM Notes has been unjustified.

Also please note, that while MIM Distributors uses the Los Angeles address for their publications and distribution, our legal office is currently based out of San Francisco. By corresponding with me through the address above we can ensure more efficient communications.


Thank you for your time in this matter,

Deputy Director
Division of Operations
Virginia Department of Corrections
PO Box 26963
Richmond, VA 23261-6963

10 December 2007

Dear Sir/Madam,

We have not received a response regarding our request for an independent review of the decision to censor MIM Notes made last month. If the department has already determined that our appeal merited a reversal of the decision, then this letter can be disregarded and we thank you for your time. However, since I last wrote, we have received the information we requested from W.D. Jennings, Management Lead Analyst, and would like to address the new information we have in the case that the decision to censor still stands. We now possess a copy of Operating Procedure 803.2 explaining the Virginia Department of Correction?s policy on incoming publications, including the criteria for disapproving publications sent to prisoners in their custody.

The original letter sent to MIM Distributors by W.D. Jennings regarding the censorship of 10 issues of MIM Notes, dated October 30, 2007, does not cite specific sections of the Procedure, but did state that the newspapers ?could be detrimental to the security and good order of the institution and the rehabilitation of inmates.? I already addressed this claim in my previous letter. In the numerous rejection notices that were received by prisoners, many cited criteria #7 and #13 and most were issued by Major K. Chris, Chief of Security at Red Onion State Prison. While the page numbers cited in the memo from W.D. Jennings don?t give us the ability to address specific concerns as most pages have multiple articles on them, let me briefly address the claims made by Major Chris.

803.2 #7 Material that promotes or advocates violence, disorder, insurrection or terrorist activities against individuals, groups, organizations, the government, or any of its institutions

While MIM Notes frequently discusses the use of violence and terrorism by various parties, it does so from a critical standpoint. For example, MIM Notes actively opposes the bombing of Iraq, the financial backing of Israel?s occupation of Palestine and even physical mistreatment of prisoners in this country. MIM Notes also regularly points out that such violence and terrorism will breed resistance. Holding such a belief is the protected right of all citizens of the United States. Nowhere does MIM Notes promote or encourage resistance that is based in violence or any sort of terrorist activities. If you believe that it does, we request that you provide specific citations where this is done.

803.2 #13 Material that depicts, describes or promotes gang signs, language, clothing, jewelry, codes or paraphernalia, gang participation or other gang-related activity or association.

Elsewhere in the Procedure a gang is defined as:

?A group of individuals who: (a) possess common characteristics that distinguish them from other offenders or groups of offenders and who, as an entity, pose a threat to the safety and security of staff, the facility, other offenders or the community; (b) have a common distinctive goal, symbolism or philosophy; (c) possess identifiable skills or resources, or engage in unauthorized/illegal activities??

MIM Notes does not promote any illegal or unauthorized activities, nor does it threaten the safety or security of anyone in the facility. Similarly, MIM Notes does not promote symbols of groups that do promote such activities. Again, you would need to provide concrete examples of where such things are depicted or promoted in order for these charges to stand.

MIM Distributors is very interested in remedying the problems that have led to the repeated censorship of its publications in recent months. However, to date we have been unable to come up with any actionable responses to the charges made by the Virginia DOC, as the claims appear to be unfounded. We appreciate the information provided by W.D. Jennings, but if the department determines to uphold these decisions we request specific citations of the text or content that violates the criteria cited in the publication disapproval memos.

We hope to work with you to remedy these issues in an expedient manner.

Sincerely,

W.D. Jennings, Ph.D., Management Lead Analyst
Virginia Department of Corrections
PO Box 26963
Richmond, VA 23261-6963

7 January 2008

Mr. Jennings,

I have received your letter from December 19, however it does not address any of the concerns that were brought up in my previous letter dated December 10, 2007. In that letter I addressed all of the charges that have been brought against various issues of MIM Notes.

Your recent letter does not provide any evidence that these issues of MIM Notes are security risks. You do state that ?the cited issues of MIM Notes contain depictions of violence and the suggested use of violent activities against individuals.?

Since you fail to provide any citations to back up your assertion, let me take MIM Notes 343 as an example, as it had the greatest number of objectionable pages. The first two pages contain articles about the United States war effort against Iran and Hezbollah and the execution of Saddam Hussein. Certainly, violence is part of these stories. Is it the department?s policy to prohibit any news outlets that discuss issues of war, murder and other acts of violence? If so, I would refer you to Sizemore v. Williford, 829 F.2d 608, 610 (7th Cir. 1987), as well as Maddox v. Berge, _F.Supp.2d_, 2007 WL 420193 *9-10 (W.D. Wis. Feb. 8, 2007). In addition, Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987), which set the standard for censorship of material for ?legitimate penological interests,? does not allow you to cut a prisoner off from news about the outside world.

The last two pages cited as being objectionable in MIM Notes 343 are almost entirely stories of censorship in prisons, and contain no depiction of violence. I am particularly interested to hear how stories of censorship pose a threat to the security of the prisons in Virginia. And if they do, wouldn?t you be violating the legitimate penological goals of the department by arbitrarily censoring MIM Distributors and other organizations?

As you know, the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a state from denying anyone equal protection under law. And as you know, the First Amendment provides MIM Distributors with the right to freedom of the press. And as established in decisions such as Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. at 415, this freedom does not end at the prison gates.

Therefore I am requesting that you either allow inmates to receive the issues of MIM Notes in question, or provide legal justification for their censorship that would stand up in a court of law.

Thank you,

W.D. Jennings, Ph.D., Management Lead Analyst
Virginia Department of Corrections
PO Box 26963
Richmond, VA 23261-6963

3 February 2008

Mr. Jennings,

I received your letter from January 16 and am disappointed that you are still unable to respond to my requests.

In your letter you take issue with my statement that the VADOC is not allowed to cut a prisoner off from news about the outside world. In response you state, ? The purpose of Operating Procedure 803.2 is to ensure the safety of both staff and the inmate population by restricting published content that could be detrimental to the good order and rehabilitative efforts?? However, I did not question the intention of the policy, but rather the legality of the apparent blanket ban on MIM Notes. As you are unable to provide any evidence that the issues of MIM Notes in question are in fact detrimental to the good order and rehabilitative efforts, you should be able to understand my point.

You refer me to the grievance process for publishers and imply that this procedure has been exhausted. If that is the case, then I will certainly stop wasting my time writing to you. I do understand that it is your job to uphold department decisions, but you should be aware that the laws that your department is violating are federal laws not departmental regulations.

Thank you,