Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

DAI Deputy Director
Department of Corrections
2729 Plaza Drive
Jefferson City, MO 65109

26 January 2014

RE: Censorship of Under Lock & Key Issue 35

Dear Mr. Dormire,

This letter is in response to two letters from your department notifying us of the censorship of issue 35 of Under Lock & Key. While Warden Steele at Potosi only gives a vague justification that it somehow promotes violence, Warden Stange from Southeast Correctional Center points to an article ?A message to street organizations: Ride or Die! Unite or Perish!? on pages 3-5 as ?promot[ing] anarchy.? That article is a call for peace and unity, the opposite of violence and anarchy, so it seems there is another agenda behind the censorship. There is a history of staff at Southeast Correctional Center targeting members of the organization that authored that article because of their political disagreements. However, as we know, political disagreement is not legal justification for such actions by government employees.

I am requesting that you review this incident of censorship and notify us of your decision.


Thank you for your time,

DAI Deputy Director
Department of Corrections
2729 Plaza Drive
Jefferson City, MO 65109

5 March 2014

RE: Censorship of Under Lock & Key Issue 36

Dear Mr. Dormire,

First let me acknowledge receipt of your letter dated February 10th supporting my appeal of the previous issue of ULK. Thank you for that.

This letter is in response to the latest letter from Crossroads Corr. Ctr. Warden Larry Denney notifying us of the censorship of issue 36 of Under Lock & Key. In it he cites pages 6-7 of that issue claiming they ?may provoke disorder.? There is one essay spanning those pages from a former prisoner describing his/her feelings about his/her release, but I do not see what part of that article would be provoking disorder.

I am requesting that you review this incident of censorship and notify us of your decision.

In addition, despite a number of decisions by you overturning censorship by prison wardens in Missouri, we have seen a steep decline in confirmed mail received by prisoners across the state. I am requesting that you help us ensure that your decisions are enforced and that mail that is deemed to be appropriate is in fact delivered to prisoners. We will continue to monitor this apparent decline in our mail reaching its intended recipients in Missouri.


Thank you for your time,

DAI Deputy Director
Department of Corrections
2729 Plaza Drive
Jefferson City, MO 65109

26 January 2014

RE: Censorship of Under Lock & Key Issue 35

Dear Mr. Dormire,

This letter is in response to two letters from your department notifying us of the censorship of issue 35 of Under Lock & Key. While Warden Steele at Potosi only gives a vague justification that it somehow promotes violence, Warden Stange from Southeast Correctional Center points to an article ?A message to street organizations: Ride or Die! Unite or Perish!? on pages 3-5 as ?promot[ing] anarchy.? That article is a call for peace and unity, the opposite of violence and anarchy, so it seems there is another agenda behind the censorship. There is a history of staff at Southeast Correctional Center targeting members of the organization that authored that article because of their political disagreements. However, as we know, political disagreement is not legal justification for such actions by government employees.

I am requesting that you review this incident of censorship and notify us of your decision.


Thank you for your time,

DAI Deputy Director
Department of Corrections
2729 Plaza Drive
Jefferson City, MO 65109

1 November 2013

RE: Censorship of Under Lock & Key Issue 34

Dear Mr. Dormire,

This letter is in response to a letter from Warden Larry Denney dated 16 October 2013 regarding the censorship of issue 34 of Under Lock & Key. The issue was censored because of a piece of art on page 6 (enclosed). Similar to previous instances I have written to you about, it seems to be presumed objectionable due to the gun being pointed at a prisoner. The piece of art was produced to criticize the state forcing people to give up all their electronic information, the gun being the allegory for that use of force. Given that understanding, I do not believe that this art poses a threat to the safety at Crossroads Correctional Center.

I am requesting that you review this incident of censorship and notify us of your decision.


Thank you for your time,

DAI Deputy Director
Department of Corrections
2729 Plaza Drive
Jefferson City, MO 65109

14 April 2013

RE: Censorship of Under Lock & Key Issue 26

Dear Sir/Madam,

We have received notice from the staff at Crossroads Correctional Facility that Under Lock & Key, May/June 2012, Issue #26 has been censored by the Missouri Department of Corrections. This letter is to request an independent review of this decision.

This incident is part of what is becoming a pattern of the department censoring Under Lock &Key on the grounds that it promotes violence when there are articles that mention violence to criticize it. In my letter to you a month ago I pointed out that artwork criticizing the violence of the Newtown shooting was used to justify censorship. In this more recent case, ULK 26, the cited reason for censorship is a page with an article about the unjust shooting of Trayvon Martin. There is a piece of art with the article that depicts violence in an obvious criticism of the shooting of unarmed Black men. It is my contention that this criticism of the shooting of Trayvon Martin does not promote violence among prisoners at Crossroads Correctional Facility.

Once again, it seems the reviewer, who no doubt must review a lot of material in a day, mistakenly saw depictions of violence as promoting it, rather than reading the articles to see that they both served as a critique. I hope you agree and allow Mr. XXXXXX to receive Under Lock & Key Issue 26. Thank you for taking the time to review this matter.

Sincerely,

12 December 2011

Warden Denney,

This letter is regarding censorship of mail from MIM Distributors to Mr. XXXXX YYYY we were just made aware of. No notification was ever sent to us by the mailroom regarding this censorship, nor are we aware of why the materials were censored.

While numerous materials from MIM Distributors have been censored in recent months, I would like to take this opportunity to inquire about one in particular. On October 3, 2011 a letter was sent to Mr. YYYYY containing information on a socio-economic survey to research the background of prisoners across the country. Mr. YYYYY reports that he was told he could not send that type of information to us. The information included such things as income level, income sources, and neighborhood demographics prior to incarceration. It is perplexing to me that such material was prevented from reaching a prisoner in your facility and that he was told he could not send such information out through the mail.

Therefore, I am requesting that this incident be reviewed and that Mr. YYYYYY be given the letter in a timely manner, or that you respond to this letter with an explanation for why it was denied since no justification has been provided.

Thank you for your time,

The survey was given to prisoner and warden told h s/he just was not allowed to copy it or hand it to other prisoners as it would violate the personal property policy which states prisoners cannot share, loan or trade property.

See documentation to "Prisoner files grievance" 04/01/2010