Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

March 20, 2024

Director of Operations
North Carolina Division of Prisons
831 W. Morgan Street, MSC 4261
Raleigh, NC 27699-4261

Re: LETTER TO PUBLISHER


To Whom It May Concern:

We are in receipt of your censorship notice for the publication Under Lock & Key Issue 84 (hereafter “ULK”) which was sent to one XXXXXX B. XXXXXX #XXXXXX. We are the publishers of ULK. For administrative purposes, we’d like to note that this notice is dated to 2/29/24 and was received by us on 3/19/24. A copy of your notice is enclosed within.

The listed reason for censorship is that the publication allegedly violates code A of North Carolina Division of Prisons policy D.0100. Code A in this policy states that publications received by prisoners must not facilitate “[t]he commission of criminal activity and/or the violation of state or federal law and/or the violation of Division of Prisons policy and/or offender disciplinary policy and procedures.” The specific reason listed on the notice is that page 10 of ULK “depicts excessive force against policy using impact weapons.”

First and foremost, the content that is being alleged as violating code A is a piece of art on page 10 which was made by a prisoner. This is protected under the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression and as such it is unconstitutional to censor our publication on this basis.

This being said, we also cannot find anything in Division of Prisons policies that prohibit depictions of “excessive force” as is alleged in the notice. The only somewhat related item we can find is in policy D.0100 where “depictions of unlawful violence” are prohibited. We agree that the art piece is a depiction of violence, but it is in no way unlawful. In fact, your very own policy F.1500 on “Use of Force” specifically lays out guidelines for when it is appropriate to beat prisoners with such “impact weapons.” How could an act which your institution permits and encourages be unlawful?

Furthermore, we would direct you towards the following disclaimer that we include in every issue of ULK on page 2: “We encourage prisoners to join [our] battles while explicitly discouraging them from engaging in any violence or illegal acts.” We therefore fail to see how ULK is violating code A and purportedly advocating for “[t] commission of criminal activity” while simultaneously explicitly disavowing such activity.

We request the decision to withhold Under Lock & Key Issue 84 be vacated and the publication be forwarded to Mr. XXXXXX. Failure to provide appropriate notice and adherence to your policies may result in legal action.

Please govern yourself accordingly.

Under Lock & Key Winter 2024 Page: 10 was disapproved for: In violation Code D

"Depiction that may encourage a group disruption."

April 30, 2024

Director of Operations
North Carolina Division of Prisons
831 W. Morgan Street, MSC 4261
Raleigh, NC 27699-4261

Re: LETTER TO PUBLISHER


To Whom It May Concern:

We are in receipt of your censorship notice for the publication Under Lock & Key Issue 84 (hereafter “ULK”). We are the publishers of ULK. For administrative purposes, we’d like to note that this notice is dated to April 2, 2024 and was received by us on April 27, 2024. A copy of your notice is enclosed within.

We would like to note that said censorship notice does not include any information about the facility to which ULK was sent to nor any information about the prisoner it was sent to. We object to this practice on the basis of the prisoner’s Due Process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.

The listed reason for censorship is that the publication allegedly violates code D of North Carolina Division of Prisons policy D.0100. Code D in this policy states that publications received by prisoners must not facilitate “violence, disorder, insurrection, or terrorist/gang activities against individuals, groups, organizations, the government or any of its’ institutions.” The specific reason listed on the notice is that page 10 of ULK contains a “depiction which may encourage a group disruption.”

First and foremost, the content that is being alleged as violating code D is a piece of art on page 10 which was made by a prisoner. This is protected under the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression and as such it is unconstitutional to censor our publication on this basis.

This being said, we find the reasoning listed in the notice to be highly hypocritical. Your institution claims that depicting a prisoner being beat by a correctional officer “may encourage a group disruption,” yet your very own policy F.1500 on “Use of Force” specifically lays out guidelines for when it is appropriate to beat prisoners with such “impact weapons.” How can you simultaneously condone a violent act in your institution while prohibiting any artistic expression depicting said violent act for fear it may cause a security concern?

Furthermore, we would direct you towards the following disclaimer that we include in every issue of ULK on page 2: “We encourage prisoners to join [our] battles while explicitly discouraging them from engaging in any violence or illegal acts.” We therefore fail to see how ULK is violating code D and purportedly advocating for “violence, disorder, insurrection, or terrorist/gang activity” while simultaneously explicitly disavowing such acts.

We request the decision to withhold Under Lock & Key Issue 84 be vacated and the publication be forwarded to its intended recipient(s). Failure to provide appropriate notice and adherence to your policies may result in legal action.

Please govern yourself accordingly.


Sincerely,