Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

Assistant Section Chief
Support Services
4260 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4260

12 February 2016

RE: censorship of Under Lock & Key No. 47

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have just received your Letter to Publisher, notifying us of the censorship of Under Lock Key No. 47, which was mailed out to people on 11 December 2015. I am requesting a review of that decision to censor ULK 47.

Publication Review Committee Chair Shane Tharrington cites page 1 as objectionable as it “Encourages insurrection and disorder.” He seems to be copying and pasting from Fay Lassiter's book who falsely claimed that every issue of Under Lock & Key did so over a period of more than 3 years.

What Mr. Tharrington is missing is that the law only allows a restriction on the First Amendment right to free speech of a publisher if it poses a direct threat to legitimate penological interests within the prison (see Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89-90 (1987)). The discussion of historical figures on page 1, many of whom ended up in prison, is not call to insurrection in North Carolina prisons. It is merely a discussion of history from a certain political perspective.

As I've stated previously, every issue of Under Lock & Key promotes peace, organization and legal campaigns as means of addressing the abuse of prisoners. This is the opposite of encouraging “insurrection and disorder.”

In light of this, I hope you will see it as appropriate to repeal this decision to censor ULK 47, and deliver copies to each subscriber held in your institutions.


Sincerely,

13 October 2014

RE: censorship of Under Lock & Key No. 39 (July/August 2014)

Dear Assistant Director,

This letter is in response to a 3 October 2014 letter from Fay Lassiter, Chair, Publication Review Committee regarding the publication titled Under Lock & Key No. 39 (July/August 2014). We received this letter on 8 October 2014.

The letter states that the publication was disapproved for delivery to prisoners in North Carolina because it allegedly violates North Carolina Division of Prisons policy D.0100. The only reason indicated on page 1 of the form was '?D? Code Violation.' As we have repeatedly pointed out, this vague reasoning makes it hard for MIM Distributors to address your department's concerns.

Additionally, in your Policy & Procedures D.0100 Publications Received/Posessed by Inmates, at .0103 (b), it states ?Descriptions and justifications should be specific enough to enable the Publication Review Committee (if there is an appeal) to turn to each listed page and immediately identify which words or images were disapproved and why.? I know this Procedure relates to the notes the Warden makes when referring the publication to the Publication Review Committee. Yet, page 2 and 3 of the Letter to Publisher form, where the page numbers and comments indicating what is objectionable, are consistently left blank. We are requesting that in the future that the Chairperson complete the standard paperwork according to your department's policies to facilitate our communications.

The repeated censorship of whole publications without the information we are requesting does not sufficiently articulate the reasoning for banning publications in order to satisfy the threshold of adequate motivation established by the U.S. Supreme Court. Federal Courts have stated in several occasions that "Prison authorities cannot rely on general or conclusory assertions to support their policies." Walker v. Sumner (9th Cir. 1990) 917 F.2d 382, 385 and that "Unsupported security claims couldn't justify infringement on First Amendment rights." Crofton v. Roe (9th Cir. 1999) 170 F.3d 957

At this time we can only appeal based on our knowledge of the whole content of that publication, that it does not advocate ?violence, disorder, insurrection or terrorist/gang activities.?
We did receive your letter from 8 September 2014 upholding the censorship of issue #38 of Under Lock & Key. In that letter you specified the content that you used to justify that censorship as we are requesting here, however this was received over three months after we first received notice from a prisoner that your department was holding that publication and after you had closed any opportunities to redress the censorship of MIM Distributors mail.

We would appreciate assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

T. Walser, Asst. Supt. of Custody and Operations
Polk Correctional Institution
PO Box 2500
Butner, NC 27509

28 May 2009

Asst. Supt. Walser,

We recently received your ?Censorship & Appeal/Waiver Form? regarding the censorship of issue #7 of Under Lock & Key that was mailed to Mr. XXXXXX XXXXXX from MIM Distributors. You first cite D.0310( C ) as the reason. That rule states that the mail concerns sending contraband such as stamps, cash or stickers. The newsletter is mailed to thousands all over the country in the same format and I can assure you that it contained no such contraband.

The disapproval reason page also has text entered in reason D.0310(E). This text claims that ULK 7 could be a threat to safety and security if distributed. I think that upon review, if you read the content of the newsletter you will find that the whole message of ULK 7 is to promote defending human rights via legal avenues while opposing the use of violent or illegal retaliation for abuse within prisons.

It is confusing because the reason states that it ?could be detrimental to the safety and security of the information.?, perhaps this is a typo? If so what exactly is it a threat to the safety and security of? Can you cite the paragraph, article and page that could pose such risk?

The main message of ULK 7 is to promote peaceful means of dealing with conflicts and abuse within prisons, so I find it odd that the department chose to censor this publication for the reason given. If upon review you are not convinced that Mr. XXXXXX should receive ULK 7, please notify us of such decision and your reasoning behind it.


Thank you for your time,