Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

Functional Unit Manager
Snake River Correctional Institution
777 Stanton Blvd
Ontario, OR 97914

9 December 2007

Dear Sir/Madam,

This letter is in response to two publication violation notices received by our office for literature that was sent to Mr. XXXXXX XXXXXX (XXXXXX). Two issues of MIM Notes were censored for allegedly violating Code 2 e and j on pages 10 and 11. Pages 10 and 11 of these two newspapers contain a section called Under Lock & Key, which both contain letters from prisoners in California regarding conditions in prisons there.

The first code (2e) forbids materials that ?plans for activities in violation of other Department of Corrections administrative directives.? It is our clearly stated policy that we do not encourage our readers to break the law, and in the case of prisoners the rules at their prison. It is our belief that MIM Notes 344 does not discuss any plans that would violate Oregon DOC?s rules. If there is something in that issue of MIM Notes that does propose violating your rules, please notify us of specifically where and what rule is potentially being violated so that we can avoid this problem in the future.

The second code (2j) prohibits ?inflammatory material.? Code 2j is purposefully vague in not defining the term inflamatory. It is our understanding that in this context inflammatory is taken to mean ?arousing to action or rebellion? and not the more benign definition of ?arousing passion or strong emotion.? The latter definition would restrict most anyone with something important to say from communicating with people in Oregon?s prisons.

Assuming the definition of inflammatory to be ?arousing to action or rebellion,? I would still take issue with the assertion that encouraging action can be legally prohibited. Of course, it is your job to keep order within SRCI, and so your concern is to prevent disturbances among prisoners. If you feel that articles about conditions in California prisons will spark rebellion among Oregon prisoners, then I would suggest investigating the actions of your staff that might be behind such a reaction. Regardless, you cannot shoot the messenger. Stating that the truth will incite rebellion is not a legally sound way to prevent a party from expressing the truth.

While I realize I do not have the ability to challenge the legitimacy of Code 2j through this avenue, I do believe that it is being used, in this case, beyond what is reasonable and legal. Clearly, political speech is protected by the First Amendment and Supreme Court decisions such as Procunier v. Martinez, and Code 2j cannot be used in violation of these laws.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter,