Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

Regional Director
Michael K. Nalley
North Central Regional Office
Federal Bureau of Prisons
400 State Avenue, Suite 800
Kansas City, KS 66101

January 3, 2011

RE: Censorship incident occurred at FCI Pekin; exclusion of publications sent to inmate XXX from MIM Distributors.

Dear Director Nalley,

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at FCI Pekin in Pekin, IL. MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned inmate issue no. 21 of a publication titled Under Lock & Key. The publications was sent on 07/29/2011.

We recently received the publication back with a stamp on it that merely states: ?return to sender? and ?refused?. None of the possible reasons for refusal given with the stamp have been marked. It is impossible for us to understand why the publication has not been delivered to the inmate and why the Administration has decided to censor it.

Let me remind you that 28 CFR ? 540.71, at par. d) clearly states?Where a publication is found unacceptable, the Warden shall promptly advise the inmate in writing of the decision and the reasons for it. The notice must contain reference to the specific article(s) or material(s) considered objectionable. The Warden shall permit the inmate an opportunity to review this material for purposes of filing an appeal under the Administrative Remedy Program?.

In addition, par. e) of the same section states that ?The Warden shall provide the publisher or sender of an unacceptable publication a copy of the rejection letter. The Warden shall advise the publisher or sender that he may obtain an independent review of the rejection by writing to the Regional Director within 20 days of receipt of the rejection letter?.

As you are certainly aware, the above regulation is pursuant to the principles laid down by the U.S. Supreme Court in the matter. Both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive adequate notice indicating the reasons of the censorship and offering an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).

In plain and striking contradiction with these principles, and with the Federal regulations above cited, neither XXX, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the reasons of the censorship decision. Merely stamping the publication ?refused? does not satisfy the obligation to provide both the sender and the recipient with a clear indication of the reasons of the censorship determination, and frustrates the right that both the sender and the prisoner have to appeal such determination.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests to be notified of the reasons of the censorship decision and to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of its materials and/or letter. We also request that adequate notice be provided to the prisoner. We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors

CC: Affected parties