Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

January 21, 2018

Washington Department of Corrections
Office of the Secretary
PO Box 41100, Mail Stop 41100
Olympia, WA 98504-1100

Re: Appeal of Censorship of Publication
Under Lock & Key Issue 59
File No. SAL-1217-127


To Whom It May Concern:

We are in receipt of a Rejection Notice (notice) for the above referenced issue of Under Lock & Key (ULK) addressed to Mr. X. The notice states that ”8. Contains articles and information on drugs in prisons and the cost comparison of inside and
outside of prison as well as movement of drugs.” There, however, is no reference to page numbers of the alleged objectionable content. It is unclear what content is alleged to be objectionable.

Due process requires adequate notice of the reasons for censorship. Instructive is the District Court’s reasoning set forth in Prison Legal News v. Jones, “Procunier demands that the publisher "be given a reasonable opportunity to protest" the censorship. Id. at 418. For an opportunity to be reasonable, the publisher must know of the grounds upon which the publication has been censored. See Henry J. Friendly, "Some Kind of Hearing", 123 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1267, 1280 (1975) (explaining that it is "fundamental" to due process that "notice be given . . . that . . . clearly inform[s] the individual of the proposed action and the grounds for it"). This knowledge component of due process does not turn on whether the publication is the first copy or a subsequent copy. What matters is the basis for censorship. If a subsequent impoundment decision is based on a different reason not previously shared with [the publisher or distributor], due process requires that [the publisher or distributor] be told of this new reason.” 126 F. Supp. 3d 1233, 1258 (N.D. Fla. 2015).


Further, the notice without page references does not meet the scrutiny required by the Constitution and a more definite statement of the objectionable content is required.

We require the decision to censor issue 59 be vacated and delivered to Mr. X.

Please govern yourself accordingly.


Sincerely,

MIM Distributors

To whom it may concern:

I'm in receipt of your two correspondences appealing the rejection of the above two notices for inmates XXX and YYY dated January 21, 2018.

Per Washington State DOC policy 450.100 all publications rejected by any DOC correctional facility will be reviewed by the Publication Review Committee at DOC Headquarters. Mail Rejection Notice number 18346 was reviewed on January 8, 2018 and was overturned by the committee. The publicaiton issue has since been forwarded to each offender. A copy of the final decision notice should be forthcoming to you from Stafford Creek Correctional Center (SCCC).

Sincerely,

Roy Gonzalez, Correctional Manager
Prisons Division
SEC - 15320, 15321; rg