Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

Department of Corrections
ATTN: Library Services Administrator
2601 Blair Stone Road
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2500

April 17, 2012

RE: Appeal of the censorship decision regarding book sent to prisoner XXX from MIM Distributors

To Whom it May Concern:

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution. MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner a photocopy of a book titled ?Palante Young Lords Party? by Michael Abramson.

We recently received from the Santa Rosa CI a notice of impoundment of publication (attached), which informs us that the above publication was impounded because it allegedly ?presents a threat to the security, good order, or discipline of the correctional system or the safety of any person?. The form cites "pages 1 thru 6 gang activity" as the page numbers in the publication where the inadmissible material is to be found.

I believe the mailroom staff at Santa Rosa CI seem to have completely misunderstood the content and the purpose of the publication we sent to the above mentioned prisoner. The first six pages of the photocopy actually tell the story of a social movement that organized many programs to help the Puerto Rican communities in New York City and Philadelphia; such programs are briefly described in the above mentioned pages and among them a program for lead poisoning detection and a free breakfast program are particularly analyzed.

This book clearly focuses on social work and on community oriented services. It is unclear how the mailroom staff may have viewed the content of the publication as related to gang activity. In other words, it couldn?t be more evident that the mailroom staff have completely misunderstood the content and the purpose of the publication we sent to the prisoner or, in the alternative, that a thorough review of the publication hasn?t actually been conducted at all.

It is important to note that the U.S. Supreme Court has already stated in Procunier v. Martinez, 416, U.S. 396 (1974) and in Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490, U.S. at 416 n. 14 (1989), that prison officials violate the First Amendment when for reasons unrelated to legitimate penological interests they engage in "censorship of . . . expression of 'inflammatory political, racial, religious or other views'."

Lastly, the motivation alleged to support the censorship determination seems to be too vague and not sufficiently articulate 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.

Based on the above considerations, we request that you decide to allow the book to be delivered to prisoners held in Santa Rosa Correctional Institution.

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

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors

CC: Affected parties

. . .
MIM Distributors
PO Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140


Warden Randy P. Tiffts
Santa Rosa Correctional Institution
5850 East Milton Road
Milton, FL, 32583-7914

January 24th, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Santa Rosa CI ? exclusion of publication sent to prisoner xxx by MIM Distributors.

Dear Warden Tiffts,

I am writing this letter about what seems to be a censorship incident that recently occurred at Santa Rosa CI.

MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner issue no. 23 of a publication titled Under Lock & Key.

We recently learned from the prisoner that he never received the publication. Nor did he receive any determination of your Department explaining whether and why the publication was censored. MIM Distributors didn?t receive any notice of censorship determination either.

Florida Administrative Code states at sections 33-501.401 that both the prisoner and the publisher have to be notified of negative determinations and entitles both the sender and the recipient to appeal rejections of publications and letters.

As of now, it is impossible for us to understand why the publication hasn?t been delivered to the prisoner and whether or not the Administration has decided to censor it.

As you are certainly aware of, 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 and with the cited Florida Administrative Code rule, neither the prisoner, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the censorship decision or actually of any decisions that the Mailroom staff has made with regard to the publication sent to Mr. xxx.

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoner and the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.

In addition, the practice of holding publications and/or letters for an indefinite time without providing notice of any determination is certainly unconstitutional, as it does not satisfy the obligation that the prison administration has to provide both the sender and the recipient with a decision in a reasonable time and ultimately frustrates the right that both the sender and the prisoner have to appeal a negative determination.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests
1. to know whether or not a determination has been made over the mentioned publication;
2. in case of a negative determination, to be notified of the reasons of the censorship decision and to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of its materials.

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