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,