MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
UPDATE FOR AUGUST 2022: Now that Juneteenth 2022 has passed,
please use this updated
flyer and these updated
postcards now address the censorship across the state of Texas in
recent months. We need your support to keep increasing the pressure to
fight this censorship of political speech.
Download and print this flyer to hang or hand out.
We are also asking others to join our letter writing and postcard
campaign in support of the rights of MIM Distributors and activists in
Allred to freely communicate. There has been a rise in mail
censorship as organizing has progressed.
download PDF below
print 2-sided on cardstock
cut into 4
add $0.40 stamp (or more)
go to event or public space and ask people to sign their name, city
and state
explain the Junteenth Freedom Initiative to them
hand them a flyer (above) or Under Lock & Key
ask for a donation to pay for postage & printing
drop postcards in mail box (don’t mail them all at once we want a
consistent stream of cards coming in)
On 19 June 2022, prisoners across Texas abstained from celebrating
the federal Juneteenth holiday until real freedom is attained by the
oppressed in this country. Instead they organized, studied and made
their voices heard for the demands of the Juneteenth Freedom Initiative,
including:
End Solitary Confinement! End Restrictive Housing Units(RHU)!
End Mass Incarceration!
Stop Mail Censorship!
Transform the prisons to cadre schools! Transform ourselves into NEW
PEOPLE!
Updates Since Juneteenth
The response from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice(TDCJ) was
swift and coordinated. MIM(Prisons) sent hundreds of update letters to
comrades in Texas during the month of June, and almost all of them
appear to have been censored.
Prisons where our letters were censored for “inciting a disturbance”
or “riot” include:
Allred Unit
Beto I Unit
Boyd Unit
Christina Melton Crain Unit
Estelle High Security Unit
Estelle 2
Ferguson Unit
Gist
Hughes Unit
McConnell Unit
Mountain View Unit
Stevenson Unit
Telford Unit
Terrell Unit
Wallace Unit
Wynne Unit
We are still receiving and compiling censorship notices from June.
Needless to say, there was a coordinated effort to block our letters
across the state, and they were really worried about the Juneteenth
boycott. Of course, there was nothing about organizing a riot in our
letters. But the imperialists will consider a boycott a “disturbance”
worthy of violating Constitutional rights. Biden said we must celebrate
Juneteenth, so now we face the consequences of his goons in the
TDCJ.
The censorship at Allred Unit had been going on for months prior.
This is the worst RHU in the state, where a lot of the JFI organizing
began. Therefore we began a postcard
campaign to protest the political targeting of mail and of certain
prisoners at Allred. One comrade there received 22 mail denial notices
in one day in May! Another comrade in Allred wrote:
“I been denied 2 newsletters & 1 letter that ya’ll sent my way.
[everything we’ve sent this comrade] I highly appreciate ya’ll. I’ve
sent them home. This only confirms that Texas don’t want us to know.
Your news letters were denied for tha reason of ‘inciting a
disturbance’.”
“I asked the mail room lady if anything sent from this address will
be denied and she said, ‘Yes.’ Just like that, freedom of speech
denied.”
This campaign is ongoing, as the censorship continues, and we ask
outside supporters to get involved. Mail from prisoners in Allred is
often delayed a month or more, so updates on the launch of the JFI have
not yet come in from some of the organizers.
Outreach during June included flyering and postcards on the streets,
hundreds of update letters sent to TX prisoners and radio interviews in
Texas and on Free Aztlán on 96.1 KEXU in Oakland.
One Texas comrade reported:
“The Juneteenth Freedom Initiative flyer was displayed for several
weeks here. On Juneteenth, no movement due to low staff and no special
holiday meal. The officers dining room had ribs, BBQ chicken and
brisquet with all the fixins, and these were supposed to be delivered to
each officer on duty. However, most were stolen en route. The warden and
kitchen captain were pissed.”
The JFI was initiated by TX T.E.A.M. O.N.E who has continued to lead
organizing efforts inside. Others, including Prison Lives Matter,
Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee Local 613 #1, the Texas
Liberation Collective, and United Struggle from Within cells, have
joined the call. On the outside, MIM(Prisons), Anti-Imperialist Prisoner
Support, and the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement have been providing
support.
Phase 2
Per the plan below, laid out by TX T.E.A.M. O.N.E. the next phase of
the Juneteenth Freedom Initiative for prisoners is to file petitions
with the Department of Justice. If you need a sample petition, write us
to get a copy. This petition is not specific to Texas.
Prisoners in long-term solitary confinement in Texas can also join
the Dillard lawsuit against the TDCJ. If you need a copy of the
motion to join, write us.
Outside supporters can best assist organizers inside by joining our
campaign against censorship. We want to continue to let the TDCJ know
that people outside are paying attention and not willing to accept this
political repression. We will be following up with a lawsuit on behalf
of an affected party in Allred and MIM Distributors. You can help in the
following ways:
calling or writing letters to the TDCJ, and to Allred Unit in
particular
getting others to sign postcards protesting the censorship
As you may know, Juneteenth has now been made a federal holiday in
amerika. On this day many will sing the praises of Our oppressors or
otherwise negate the reality of the lumpen (economically alienated
class), that according to amerika’s 13th amendment We are STILL SLAVES.
While We do not wish to nullify the intensity of the exploitation and
oppression that New Afrikan people held in chattel slavery faced, We
must pinpoint to the general public, those upcoming generations of
youngsters looking to follow Our footsteps, that to be held in captivity
by the state or feds is not only to be frowned upon but is part and
parcel with the intentions of this amerikan government, and its
capitalist-imperialist rulers. We say NO CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH until
the relation of people holding others in captivity is fully
abolished!!
Comrades have been organizing around the Juneteenth Freedom
Initiative(JFI) for almost a year now, and we just completed phase 1.
Prisoners in Texas and North Carolina took up the campaign. Instead of
celebrating Juneteenth, boycotters worked to get out the voice of the
incarcerated in TX and NC.
Previous campaign materials include more demands and more details.
Add your own demands that speak to your local conditions and make the
JFI demands heard by the masses and the oppressors. Don’t just boycott,
organize.
The Boycott is just the first phase and launch of this campaign by
and for all Texas prisoners.
Juneteenth boycott and voice demands starting 19 June 2022
present petition to the Department of Justice Special Litigation
division (write in to get a copy if you still need one) – everyone
should mail copies of their own signed petition to the DOJ following
Juneteenth 2022
if (2) fails to bring proper response, we will petition the United
Nations – date To Be Determined – watch for announcement in Under Lock
& Key, we will be requesting testimonials and collecting statistics
to back up our arguments on each campaign position and submit them as
evidence to bolster the recent guilty verdict of the We Still Charge
Genocide, International Tribunal 2021 where mass incarceration and
solitary confinement were ruled to be vital tools in the U.S. campaign
of genocide for centuries against Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples of
this continent.
CAUSE NUMBER:3:21-CV-00337
STYLED NAME: F. MARTINEZ, ET AL. VS MEMBERS OF THE TEXAS BOARD OF
CRIMINAL JUSTICE, ET. AL.
RE: COURT FEES TO OBTAIN
Dear Friends:
Greetings, I am the leading plaintiff in the above styled and
numbered case. Please be aware of the court fees to obtain copies of the
case. Basically they charge 10 cents per copy, and the total fees for
the following documents are as follows:
The Complaint (no exhibits) 32 pages
Motion for TRO and preliminary injunction (no exhibits) 31
pages
It will be a total cost of $6.30 to obtain the above documents from
the clerk of the court. You need to send a money order or institutional
check to the clerk of the court at:
CLERK, US DISTRICT COURT
601 ROSENBURG STREET
ROOM 411
GALVESTON, TEXAS 77550
Styled Name: F Martinez, Doll, Pineapple Pictures, et al. Versus
Members of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, et al.
Dear Friends:
Greetings! I am the leading plaintiff in the above styled and
numbered case. I filed this lawsuit on my behalf and others similarly
situated prisoners in TDCJ. I also represent the interest of Doll,
Pineapple and other commercial vendors.
The reasons in filing this lawsuit is to challenge the
constitutionality of the rules 1(C) and IV(A)(10)(11) of the “Uniform
Offenders Correspondence Rules” (BP-03.91)
Rule 1(C) which limits to receive ten photos per envelope is
unreasonably and arbitrarily applied to deny catalogs, brochures, and
flyers from commercial vendors. Rule IV(A)(10)(11) which totally bans
“sexually explicit images” coming into the general population all in
disguise of rehabilitation purposes.
On or about 17 June 2022, I filed in court a “motion for temporary
restraining order and preliminary injuction.” I hope that the court
grant me this motion and temporarily enjoin the defendants from
enforcing these rules until the merits are decided in trial or through
the summary judgement process.
Anybody interested in copies of the complaint and the “TRO” motion
may request copies form the court. To request the price fees you may
write to the clerk of the court at:
U.S. District Court
Southern District of Texas
Galveston Division
Clerk of the Court
601 Rosenberg Street, Rm 411
Galveston, TX 77550
by MIM(Prisons) July 2022 permalink
This map from worldatlas.com shows a common perception of the West that
links Anglophone (English-speaking) settler states to Western Europe
In recent years many have explored the myth of “the West” and
“Western Civilization”, connecting them to racist views of humyn
society. Often this was in response to right-wing white nationalists
rebranding their common cause from the “white race” to “Western
civilization.”
Yet, the term “the West” is used every day in a variety of news
sources, some claiming to be proletarian news services. It is used by
MIM in a number of older documents, and you even see it crept in to the
last issue of Under Lock & Key in our
discussion of Ukraine.(1)
The West and Militarism
The Russian invasion of Ukraine seems to have brought the term even
more to the forefront, which could explain why it ended up in our
article on the subject, despite our understanding the problems with the
term. “Western unity” today is synonymous with fighting Russia. Ukranian
President Volodymor Zelensky has helped make this true in the Amerikan
press.
There are reasons to refer to “the West” instead of the more accurate
term “NATO.” NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military
pact between countries to defend each other with very clear membership.
NATO exists clearly in space and time. It was formed in 1949, as the
U.$. and Britain focused their aggression towards the Soviet Union
following the defeat of fascism. NATO will not exist forever, with many
calling for it to be dissolved now.
The meme of “The West” on the other hand is ahistorical, and even
vague in terms of who is included. President Zelensky is making a hard
push to put Ukraine in “the West”, when it was very clearly part of the
USSR that NATO formed to oppose.
Zelensky has repeatedly called on “the West” to impose sanctions
against Russia, to send military aid to Ukraine, and to impose a no-fly
zone over Ukraine. All of these feed the militarist war machine that
imperialism depends on to stay afloat, especially in times of economic
crisis. Yet the imperialists are not even willing to do all the things
Zelensky calls for because they know the risk of inter-imperialist war
it will bring.
We’ve already seen the differing interests in this conflict playing
out. The strongest example might be Germany, the dominant imperialist
power in continental Europe, and their economic connection to Russia,
which has made them much more hesitant to join actions that the United
$tates is quick to take against Russia. Meanwhile Germany has moved to
significantly increase its military for the first time since WWII,
loosening its dependence on the United $tates for military action. In
most of our lifetimes, the so-called “Western” countries have been
united politically and economically. But this has not and will not
always be the case.
The West and the Ancient
World
We won’t repeat others summaries of the history of the concept of
“the West” here. But it does appear with the wars between Christians and
Muslims in the Middle Ages, later being used to distinguish between
areas dominated by the Western reformist church and the Eastern orthodox
church.
Just as New Afrikans today may take up the study of ancient Egypt to
learn about their “roots”, euro-Amerikans may study ancient Greece with
the same goal. In reality, ancient Egypt and Greece (in certain periods)
were actually connected and learned from each other. They were more
similar to each other (and more geographically close to each other) than
the actual ancestors of most New Afrikans or euro-Amerikans. Both are
caught up in a mythology that links them to an ancient society based on
racialized concepts of continents.
The idea of Europe as its own continent is also a myth that stems
from this history and the fact that our knowledge in the United $tates
is dominated historically by Europeans. And today, U.$.-cultural
dominance helps shape the memes that take on global significance.
Europe is a region in actual space, however, unlike “the West”, which
often lumps Western Europe with occupied regions of North America and
Oceania today. In a sense, “the West” is almost describing something
real. Throw in Japan, and you’ve got the advanced imperialist countries
of the world.
The West and Freedom
A more modern concept of “the West” starts from the fight against
fascism and morphs into the fight against communism. “The West” claims
to offer freedom and democracy instead.
On 5 July 2022, a Ukrainian court banned the Communist Party of
Ukraine and ordered all its assets seized by the state. This is a party
that got 13 percent of the votes in the 2012 general election. This
follows the ban of a number of other “socialist” or “left” parties in
the country for being “pro-Russian.”(2)
On the Fourth of July, the city of Akron, Ohio issued a 9PM to 6AM
curfew preventing people from leaving their homes except for work or
emergencies. This was on a night when masses of people stayed out all
night partying and lighting fireworks in most cities across the country.
The curfew was issued because cops shot unarmed 25-year-old Jayland
Walker the night before with 60 bullets. The young Black man died Fourth
of July morning.
Through May and June MIM(Prisons) sent hundreds of letters, petitions
and legal documents to prisoners across Texas leading up to a planned
boycott of the Juneteenth holiday on June 19. The weeks leading up to
the Fourth of July our mailbox was full of letters from the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice and from prisoners in Texas, notifying us
that our mail
had been censored because it promoted a disturbance or a riot.
Prisoners in Texas are being tortured in long-term isolation, forced
to work without pay, and facing all sorts of abusive conditions
including lack of food, dangerous temperatures and lack of yard time.
Jayland Walker was shot 60 times over a tail light. Yet boycotts and
demonstrations have been deemed illegal in Texas and Akron, Ohio in
response. In Akron 50 people were arrested after protestors were sprayed
with tear gas because police said they “cannot condone property
destruction.”(3) This is the behavior of the oppressor, of the
imperialists.
The West and Language
The more modern framework of the North versus the South developed as
an improvement on the West/East concept. The “North/South” framework is
more geographically coherent (with the exception of Australia and New
Zealand) and is defined economically. It also avoids the racist
exclusion of Japan and the “three tigers.” Though it could play into
some theories of geographic determinism, which can mirror racist
conceptions of history.
Regardless, North/South terminology was developed to be “valueless”
and as such becomes a euphemism for what is really going on: some
countries are exploiting other countries. And we have perfectly good
terminology for “the West” or “the North” in this context: imperialist
countries. As anti-imperialists, we must expose imperialism and its
crimes at every turn and not hide it behind euphemisms that reference
geography or pseudo-scientific concepts of race over materialist
understandings of political-economy.
On the other hand of the dialectic of imperialism we have the
oppressed nations, or the exploited countries, or the semi-colonies or
neo-colonies, depending on the context. Arguably these terms are also
better than the First/Third
World language we have often used historically.(4)
As a general principle, our writing guide reminds us not to use
euphemisms and not to use passive language. Like “the West” these styles
creep into our writing because they are common in the bourgeois press.
We should consciously combat this by being clear about the relationships
of oppression and exploitation and who is doing what to whom.
Whether it relates to religion, philosophy or democracy, all
historical concepts of “the West” are related to justifying invasions or
imperialism in different forms.
I’m writing because I’ve had two or three letters from you denied
here at Wynne Unit, they say “the information contains messages of
hatred and statements that could start riots”. Of course, I disagreed
and wasn’t given the opportunity to appeal it by the Texas Director’s
Review Committee.
Secondly, place this in your next issue: I won a §1983 Suit in Texas
dealing with the beard and hair policy. Specifically you can wear
goatees, dreads, and braids than “they’ve now said one big braid”. The
case log is Newman v. Marfo 4:19-CU-00352 and, now I have a
retaliation claim which is Newman v. Bowers 4:22-CU-01649
because these officials are still giving cases creating a related injury
and causal connection due to this being directly related to my, as well
as our, protected conduct guarded by the 1st Amendment Constitutional
Right.
Please post this because we only suffered in Texas prisons because
the residents are weak and have no real hope and don’t acquire the will
to believe we have the power to fight legally without physical contact
but, by our minds. I also started another claim for another resident for
abolishing the 1996 clause that says if we meet the standard for
release, they don’t have to let us go; signed by former President
Clinton and Joe Biden. So, when Biden duped blacks to break all those
records getting him in office why didn’t he unsign it?
I got a correspondence letter from y’all a couple of weeks ago that
was denied for “contents which would incite a disturbance”. First, I
asked if the letter was “Media Correspondence” and the chick said
“yeah”. So I’m like “Who denied it and why was it opened without my
presence?” Of course, she didn’t want to give no name – neither hers or
of whoever denied it. So I refused to sign. I did try to appeal, but
after refusing to sign I’m sure they just threw it away. So I don’t know
if you’re acknowledged as a media correspondent or not, or if they got
you some kind of watch list. I know what policy says and if they do it
again I’ll grieve that ass hard. I’m sure you been banned ever since you
got those Texas Pack’s out. They won’t let that in, or any regular mail
you send. But it’s too late.
I did all I could and spread the word in the Allred law library –
shit was a hit. They (TDCJ) call it inciting a disturbance, but we all
know that it’s all the information we should be entitled to have to
fight the negligence, abuse, and misinterpretation of state and federal
laws. This unit has a loooong history of violating its own policy and
civil rights with impunity. The grievance department, to medical and
everything in between, is set up this way. People like me who are in the
know and work to expose the corruption are either shipped elsewhere, or
if they don’t have outside help, are “rolled” off the unit with an ass
whoopin and/or false charges. They do this to protect the “overall
safety and security of the institution” that they have going.
I’ve only been here since February 2022 and have been either a
witness or victim of every violation but murder. My biggest gripes were
that the P4s (safe keeping G4) are religiously discriminated on and
refused worship services unless they are of the mainstream faith. The trans-women
have no privacy screens to cover their breast in the shower areas.
Exposing them to voyeurism when there is no “exigent circumstance”. P4s
are stuck in the cell during the peak heat of the day, even the hottest
of days, everyday. Respite, and respite showers do not exist
during such times. Cold water is only offered if they are lucky enough
to have a janitor there to pass it out. The cops sure as hell ain’t
doing it. It’s fucked up. I just got off that custody but I still feel
for ’em and want to help cause I’ve never seen such animosity and
neglect towards a population. There are only a little over 30 P4s on the
unit, almost 1/2 are trans women. They should be protected, but instead
are targeted. That’s bout all I got for now.
A report from South Texas: In the wake of another mass shooting in
nearby Uvalde, the pigs and their masters are engaging in the usual
finger-pointing and recrimination but one thing is clear: the cops are
cowards who are quick to shoot unarmed people, but become conveniently
“policy-orientated” when they are faced with a disturbed young man
wielding an AR-15 assault rifle slaughtering defenseless children.
I’m not really in the habit of blaming the consumers of this toxic
system called “democracy”, but these poor children were already the
“walking dead” after only a few years in the classroom. The lame-ass
governor and the fascist Ted Cruz and their clique call it a “massive
system failure”, but those who have been paying attention will
immediately see the system works exactly as it was designed to operate:
the state of Texas is the NRA torchbearer but ranks dead last in mental
health treatment. In fact, the single biggest mental health care
facility in the state is Harris County Jail.
Those who are waiting for a legislative solution better stop dreaming
and open your eyes to the reality nobody is going to save us or free us
unless we liberate ourselves and that can only happen if we organize and
think and act strategically with our comrades and fellow
travelers. It all begins with educating ourselves and arming ourselves
with the necessary facts and tools to accomplish our goals and make the
world a better place.
Here in Texas among the prison class it’s a real challenge to create
solidarity as the cell blocks are constantly flooded with mind-numbing
substances along with the disputes and rivalries and materialism that
comes along with it. I’ve made very little progress in my effort to
“kill the ‘bossman’ in your head” – not actual physical violence,
but to actually banish the word “boss man” from our vocabulary
when addressing these pigs.
I’m attempting to show the direct line from slave plantations through
“convict leasing program” all the way to the modern system of mass
incarceration, and how the term “boss man” helps keep us linguistically
and psychologically in bondage. So we need to banish the term, thought,
idea of “boss man” from our hearts and minds if we ever want to be
free.
So my Juneteenth Freedom Initiative direct action is only days away
and I will be peacefully protesting the lie that “slavery was abolished
when in fact it’s alive and well in forced prison labor programs all
over the United Snakes of America. As you can see from the enclosed
denial forms, almost all your subsequent mailings have been denied. I am
appealing the censorship and will keep you posted. At this point I am
largely in the dark with regards to progress in other facilities, but I
ask your assistance in helping me to challenge this censorship. In the
meantime, I await further info/instructions.
PS: It is increasingly clear to me that so-called “Aryan” white
supremacist groups are expanding and enjoying cover from prison
officials. We need to focus on this and build Brown and Black
alliance/solidarity along with white fellow travelers (very few of
them), but I’m sure they are around. But my point is, these Aryan
reactionaries are tools of the state and should be viewed as such.
Recent headlines about “Right-Wing Domestic Terror Threat” are
propaganda designed to increase even more police/surveillance state
apparatus that will be used to control us, not them. That’s how
they justify this shit with headlines to “combat neo-nazi terrorists”
when in fact the plan all along is to keep their foot on our
necks.
Your last three mailings were denied by the mail room. The Last one,
received on 5/25/22 stated “Denied: one letter. Content inciting a
disturbance. DRC – non appealable list (offender cannot appeal).” The
next two denials arrived on the same day (6/6/22): “One newsletter and
one packet. Contains content inciting a disturbance.” I did appeal these
last two decisions.
Apparently, when a prisoner attempts to assert his rights, the mail
room calls it “inciting a disturbance!?” These are the same racist dogs
who can get away with denying me a photograph of my ten-year old nephew
who was innocently posing while making some silly hand signs, calling
that “gang related.” The kids are being kids and their hand signs have
absolutely nothing to do with gangs! Had it been white kids posing in
similar fashion, instead of calling it “gang-related,” these racist mail
room employees would’ve called the photograph “cute.”
These are the same racist muthafuckers who loved it – and applauded –
when that comic figure (D. Trump) was separating all the kids from their
parents at the border, you know, that as long as it is not their kids
who are being treated so inhumanely, they obviously do not care about
our kids, right!? And what’s so fucked up is that when the white ‘lady’
who delivers the denial papers arrives to our cell, she pretends like
she’s really upset that I would even want to receive these MIM
publications. She practically turns her back on me as if I were being so
un-American, or something!
But I have news for her, and anyone else of her ilk. I don’t want
part of anysystem that snatches babies out of the
arms of their mothers, or a system that allows their police forces to
murder people of color with impunity, while these same fuckin’ cowards
refuse to enter a school where kids are being massacred! And while the
trigger-happy cowards are quick to murder unarmed civilians,
none of the recent sick and deranged school shooters (or other
mass murderers) have been killed by police! Why not? Because the
cowardly police officers were “too scared” and chickenshit to engage the
“active shooters.” Plain and simple. And each time these police officers
take the stand at someone’s trial, where they will lie and perjure
themselves (as they are wont to do), they will recite their “highly
trained” credentials, but where are all these “highly trained”
credentials when the little kids in a school are being massacred and
need help?
And their “exceptional training,” without fail, goes out the window
when these same police officers take the stand, not only do they
(conveniently) “forget” vital details during vital parts of their trial
testimony, they lie about who handled what piece of evidence, whether or
not they used gloves to handle the evidence un-dated and un-sworn
“supplemental reports” appear out of nowhere to “assist” these liars and
“refreshen their memories” etc. And as the famous attorney Gerry Spence
once remarked (an attorney who has practiced law for over 50 years), he
has never been involved in a case where police did not lie or
plant evidence, or engage in some other illegalities, in other words,
like me, he has never met an honest cop! And like me, he’s not saying
they’re not out there, I just haven’t ever met one.
MIM(Prisons) adds: Outside supporters, please join our
campaign to protest censorship in Allred RHU. This censorship has ramped
up in response to prisoner organizing. This is politically-motivated
repression and it is illegal. You can call,
write a letter, or better yet print out our postcards and get others
to sign them to let them know what’s going on in Texas prisons!
As soon as the first printing of our new Revolutionary 12 Step
Program pamphlet landed in prisons across the United $tates, it
has been targeted for censorship in both Florida and Texas.
The Florida mailroom staff who seized the pamphlet checked two
reasons for impounding it:
“(15)(i)is dangerously inflammatory in that it advocates or
encourages riot, insurrection, rebellion, organized prison protest,
disruption of the institution, or the violation of the federal law,
state law or Department Rules”
and
“(15)(p)otherwise presents a threat to the security, order, or
rehabilitative objectives of the correctional system or the safety of
any person.”
Since the pamphlet is actively preventing harm to the safety of any
person and actively training people to stop breaking the law or engaging
in destructive behavior, we must wonder what are the “rehabilitative
objectives” of the Florida Department of Corrections.
MIM(Prisons) appealed this.
Texas on the other hand did not give MIM(Prisons) the opportunity to
appeal, as required by Federal law, and only notified us of the
censorship after the review committee’s final decision, which, like
Florida, cited the “Entire publication contain security concerns.”
The reason they cited:
“Publication contains material that a reasonable person would
construe as written solely for the purpose of communicating information
designed to achieve a breakdown of prisons through offender disruption
such as strikes, riots or security threat group activity.”
It’s also no secret that the oppressor prefers us to be drunk and
high, rather than thinking clearly and doing good for ourselves and our
people.
Prisoners can help by getting our Censorship Guide and appealing any
censorship as the comrade in Texas did. People on the outside can help
by volunteering to help us appeal and hold these state agencies
accountable. Legal expertise with these issues is also something you can
contribute.