Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

Cynthia Bostic, Assistant Director
Support Services
4274 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4274

30 July 2012

To Ms. Bostic,

We received a letter to publisher from Fay Lassiter notifying MIM Distributors that Under Lock & Key No. 21 has been disapproved for prisoners in North Carolina. The form indicates the reason as "H", but there is no reason for disapproval on the subsequent page where Reason .0109 H is listed. Last week I just responded to another letter where that was also the case, which makes it hard for us to address your concerns when we don't know what is objectionable nor why. Thankfully, Mr. XXXXXX notified us that the reason for the censorship was given to him as an article on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. As he stated in his appeal, the same content was available to him via numerous other news sources, so it seems to be discriminatory that MIM Distributors is being censored for covering this story.

In light of these facts, I would like to request that an independent review of Under Lock & Key No. 21 be done, and that the results be sent to me at the address below. I am also requesting that future notices of disapproval include a justification for the disapproval so that we can both try to address the problem in the future as well as ensure that this censorship is not occurring arbitrarily or discriminatorily, as it might appear.


Sincerely,

Assistant Director of Support Services
North Carolina Department of Corrections
Division of Prisons
4260 MSC
Raleigh, NC, 27699-4260

March 13, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Foothills Correctional Institution ? exclusion of publications sent to prisoner XXX by MIM Distributors.

I am writing this letter about what seems to be a censorship incident that recently occurred at Foothills Correctional Institution in Morganton, North Carolina.

MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner a magazine titled MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial on two separate occasions: once on December 16, 2011 and again on February 7, 2012.

We recently learned from the prisoner (Mr.XXX) that he never received the publications listed above. On January 4, 2012 Mr. XXX received a Notice to Inmate of Disapproval & Appeal/Waiver Form for the first copy of the magazine. Mr. XXX appealed the censorship on January 5, 2012. In February 2012, Mr. XXX informed MIM Distributors that the publication was placed on the Master List of Disapproved Publications on January 23, 2012.

I am writing you this letter to inform you that MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of disapproval about this magazine at any stage in the process outlined above. Therefore we believe that putting MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial on the Master List of Disapproved Publications without first offering the publisher appeal rights is a violation of the United States Constitution, and your own Department's Policies.

Your Division of Prisons Policy D.0100 states at sections D.0103 and D.0107 that respectively prisoners and publishers have to be notified of negative determinations and entitles both the sender and the recipient to appeal rejections of publications.

The same Policy obligates your mailroom staff to come to a determination within 7 days from the arrival of the publication.

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, neither Mr. McCrae, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the censorship decision.

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoner (Mr. McCrae) 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.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests

➢ to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of the above-named magazine
➢ and for the above-named magazine to be removed from the Master List of Disapproved Publications until an appeals process with all relevant parties involved can be carried out.

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

Sincerely,

Bailey Clarke, Legal Assistant
MIM Distributors
P.O. Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140

CC: Affected parties

Lander Corpening, Administrator
Foothills Correctional Institution
5150 Western Ave
Morganton, NC 28655

My Under Lock & Key number 24 was turned down because they said it intimidates staff. They wouldn't even give me the paper to appeal the decision like they normally do because they know they only doing it because they can. With me bring on maximum security housing unit here I have no source to contact the outside world other than by pen and paper, and half the time that doesn't make it through. So let me know as soon as possible if you've received my letter. Thank you.

Assistant Director of Support Services
North Carolina Department of Corrections
Division of Prisons
4260 MSC
Raleigh, NC, 27699-4260

April 3, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Scotland Correctional Institution ? exclusion of publication sent to prisoner XXX from MIM Distributors


Dear Assistant Director,

I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Scotland Correctional Institution in Laurinburg, North Carolina.

MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 24 (January/February 2012). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on January 30, 2012.

We recently learned from the prisoner (Mr. XXX) that he never received the publication listed above. Mr. XXX informed us that he was told that the publication is rejected because it "intimated staff," but that he was not given any appeal rights. MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of censorship determination from your Department.

Your Division of Prisons Policy D.0100 states at sections D.0103 and D.0107 that prisoners and publishers have to be notified of negative determinations, and both the sender and recipient are entitled to appeal rejections of publications. The same Policy obligates your mailroom staff to come to a determination within 7 days from the arrival of the publication.

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, neither Mr. McCrae, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the censorship decision.

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoner (Mr. XXX) 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.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to know what determination has been made regarding 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;
3. and that adequate notice and appeal rights be offered to the prisoner and MIM Distributors for any future negative determinations on incoming mail.

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

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors

CC: Affected parties

Karen Stanback
Warden/Superintendent/Designee
Scoltand Correctional Institution
PO Box 1808
 Laurinburg, NC 28353

Your publication/material MIM Distributors, Under Lock & Key, Sept/Oct 2011, No. 22, is on the Master List of Disapproved Publications list of the Division of Prisons. The publication/material violates Division of Prison policy at section D.0 109 and is disapproved for the reason listed.
...
There are no additional appeal rights to this decision.
...

Reason .0 109 I Materials which are used or which reasonably appear likely to be used to intimidate or sexually harass facility staff or visitors.
Reason for Disapproval: Contains information which may intimidate staff.

Prisoner states "as on Jan 23, 2012 has been placed on the master ban list statewide. However, this time around they changed the reasons for disapproval from "advocates armed overthrow of U.S. government" to "describes and encourages disruption of operations." This shows that they were seeking ANY reason to disapprove and permanently ban this publication."

Assistant Director of Support Services
North Carolina Department of Corrections
Division of Prisons
4260 MSC
Raleigh, NC, 27699-4260

March 13, 2012

RE: Censorship incident occurred at Foothills Correctional Institution ? exclusion of publications sent to prisoner XXX by MIM Distributors.

I am writing this letter about what seems to be a censorship incident that recently occurred at Foothills Correctional Institution in Morganton, North Carolina.

MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner a magazine titled MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial on two separate occasions: once on December 16, 2011 and again on February 7, 2012.

We recently learned from the prisoner (Mr. XXX) that he never received the publications listed above. On January 4, 2012 Mr. XXX received a Notice to Inmate of Disapproval & Appeal/Waiver Form for the first copy of the magazine. Mr. XXX appealed the censorship on January 5, 2012. In February 2012, Mr. XXX informed MIM Distributors that the publication was placed on the Master List of Disapproved Publications on January 23, 2012.

I am writing you this letter to inform you that MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of disapproval about this magazine at any stage in the process outlined above. Therefore we believe that putting MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial on the Master List of Disapproved Publications without first offering the publisher appeal rights is a violation of the United States Constitution, and your own Department's Policies.

Your Division of Prisons Policy D.0100 states at sections D.0103 and D.0107 that respectively prisoners and publishers have to be notified of negative determinations and entitles both the sender and the recipient to appeal rejections of publications.

The same Policy obligates your mailroom staff to come to a determination within 7 days from the arrival of the publication.

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, neither Mr. McCrae, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the censorship decision.

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoner (Mr. McCrae) 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.

With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests

➢ to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of the above-named magazine
➢ and for the above-named magazine to be removed from the Master List of Disapproved Publications until an appeals process with all relevant parties involved can be carried out.

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

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors
P.O. Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140

CC: Affected parties

Lander Corpening, Administrator
Foothills Correctional Institution
5150 Western Ave
Morganton, NC 28655