Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

Warden Stanley Williams
Georgia State Prison
300 1st Avenue South
Reidsville, GA 30453

March 9, 2015

RE: Illegal censorship of publication Under Lock & Key No. 42 (January/February 2014) to several prisoners held at Georgia State Prison

Dear Warden Williams,

On January 30, 2015 MIM Distributors mailed the above named newsletter via USPS Presorted Standard mail to several prisoners held at Georgia State Prison (GSP). The newsletter was returned to MIM Distributors with “Return to Sender... Not Approved” stamped on the publication. The publications were returned unopened, and with no other information as to why they were censored. I have enclosed a copy for your reference.

As you are certainly aware, the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly stated that 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 notice and 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, MIM Distributors was notified of the reason for the censorship decision or offered a chance to appeal. Prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

With this letter, I would like to request:
1) to be informed why the above named publication was censored at GSP;
2) to appeal the decision to censor this publication; and
3) that in the future GSP mailroom staff follow the law in assessing whether a publication should be censored, and in notifying the sender and intended recipient of the reason for such censorship, also allowing a chance to appeal.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors

CC: Affected parties