Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

Warden Anthony Hedgpeth
Salinas Valley State Prison
PO Box 1020
Soledad, CA 93960-1020

8 March 2010

Warden Hedgpeth,

On April 28, 2009 and July 6, 2009 you acknowledged that publications from MIM Distributors were not banned in California prisons, after months of mail be returned to sender from your facility. However, we continue to receive our mail returned to us stamped "Unauthorized/Unacceptable Item" or "Not on approved mailing list at SVSP." This week alone we received 10 letters returned as described above.

This problem has been ongoing consistently since 2007, with no signs that your mailroom staff is following the department?s rules, nor legal precedent. You have assured us on more than one occasion that your staff has been retrained to not ban mail from MIM Distributors, but this is obviously not the reality.

I am requesting that immediate action be taken to remedy this problem.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors


CC: Affected parties

Warden Anthony Hedgpeth
Salinas Valley State Prison
PO Box 1020
Soledad, CA 93960-1020

29 June 2009

Mr. Hedgpeth,

I appreciated your response from April 28, 2009 and was pleased that you acknowledged that publications from MIM Distributors were not banned in California prisons, after months of mail be returned to sender from your facility. We have yet to receive confirmation as to whether your statements in that letter prove to be true in practice.

However, we have received one letter returned with the usual stamp used by SVSP staff saying that MIM Distributors is not on the addressee?s ?approved mailing list.? Since you acknowledge that none of the publications distributed by MIM Distributors are on the banned publication list, what ?list? is being referred to here. Furthermore, the mail in question was not a publication, but material addressed to a particular person at SVSP. This person, Mr XXXXXX XXXXXX, seems to have had particular restrictions applied to his mail. Is it now policy for the CDCR to return unopened mail, rather than applying the California Codes to judge whether such mail is a threat to security?

Sir, this problem has been ongoing for many months, with no signs that you are following the department?s rules, nor legal precedent. I am requesting that immediate action be taken to remedy this problem.

Thank you again for your time in this important matter,

Warden Anthony Hedgpeth
Salinas Valley State Prison
PO Box 1020
Soledad, CA 93960-1020

28 February 2009

Mr. Hedgpeth,

This letter is regarding a stack of recently returned mail that was sent by MIM Distributors to people being held at SVSP. As you are probably aware, the handling of MIM?s mail by the CDCR has been an ongoing concern. MIM?s mail has been consistently returned by SVSP mailroom staff, usually unopened, for well over a year now.

Following Prison Legal News v. CDCR your department was to create a centralized list of any banned publications. The first iteration of this list was released on October 21, 2008. However, the newsletter that was censored, Under Lock & Key, was not on the list. The list is to be updated May 1 of each year. So why is it that in February 2009, Under Lock & Key is still being returned with the reason ?Not on approved mailing list at SVSP, SOLEDAD, CA?? Is there another list that MIM Distributors must be on in order to get mail to people held at SVSP, in addition to not being on the centralized list of disapproved publications?

Please clarify this matter so that we can know the current status of our ability to communicate with people being held in SVSP.


Sincerely,

Warden Anthony Hedgpeth
Salinas Valley State Prison
PO Box 1020
Soledad, CA 93960-1020

6 April 2009

Mr. Hedgpeth,

In your letter from March 20, 2009 you state that Scott Kernan had imposed a ban on MIM publications at CDCR. I am aware of the 2005 document proclaiming such a ban, but the Office of Legal Affairs appears to be giving you a different story than they are giving the U.S. District Court regarding the continued applicability of this ban.

According to the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications, dated October 21, 2008, that I cited in my previous letter, ?The centralized list of disapproved publications supersedes any prior departmental or facility memoranda regarding banned publications. Facilities must use only the most updated version of the centralized list to identify publications subject to a general ban.? As I tried to explain in my previous letter, MIM Distributors does not appear on this list.

I also find it surprising that you are not aware of the October 21, 2008 memo, which also reads, ?Wardens are to ensure that this memorandum and list are distributed appropriately. This includes ensuring that they are copied, distributed, and posted at locations accessible to inmates, parolees, and employees?? As a Warden it appears to be required that you not only be aware of this memo but that you make it available to all others within the facility you oversee.

The Deputy Attorney General representing Mr. Kernan has represented the above quoted memo as being the truth on the ground within CDCR facilities. If the CDCR Legal Affairs office is still upholding the ban as you claim then perhaps the miscommunication is at a higher level. I am cc?ing the Deputy Attorney General as well as the Legal Affairs office to request their responses to this matter.


Thank you for your time,