Wisconsin censors try to defend policy

After several months of protest letters from MIM and our 
supporters MIM finally received a response from the warden 
of the supermax prison at Boscobel Wisconsin where they are 
censoring MIM Notes and other mail that MIM sends to 
politically active prisoners there.(MIM Notes 226, 15 Jan 
2001) The warden wrote:

February 2, 2001

 To whom it may concern,
 
I am in receipt of 
your correspondence dated January 9, 2001. As there is no 
contact person identified in the letter or signature signing 
the letter, I address this with hope it is routed to the 
appropriate staff. The denial is based on MIM's philosophy 
that armed struggle is an avenue to end oppression of all 
groups over other groups. If an organization promotes 
violence as a means to an end, it does directly effect the 
safety and security of a correctional institution. If one so 
chooses to "practice" this belief/philosophy, then it is 
feasible that one may opt to chose violence towards staff to 
gain your objectives. Sincerely, Gerald A. Berge, Warden

MIM responded:

Dear Warden Berge,

We received your letter dated February 2, 
2001 and appreciate you taking the time to respond to our 
protest of your censorship of MIM Notes. As your stated 
reason is our advocacy of armed struggle as an avenue to end 
oppression of groups over other groups, would we be correct 
to assume that you also censor the Declaration of 
Independence? We need to know your policy on this for our 
books for prisoners program as well as our censorship 
lawsuit. Advocating revolutionary struggle as a means to end 
tyranny is no less than the founders of this country did in 
the Declaration of Independence so presumably you would also 
censor that document because readers might misinterpret it 
to advocate violence against your staff. Perhaps you would 
have to censor Abraham Lincoln as well? ""Any people 
anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the 
right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and 
form a new one that suits them better. This is a most 
valuable,---a most sacred right---a right, which we hope and 
believe, is to liberate the world. Nor is this right 
confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing 
government, may choose to exercise it." (Speech in the 
United States House of Representatives, Jan. 12, 1848) What 
you neglect to mention in your letter is that we expressly 
state that violence at this time is not a way of gaining an 
end of oppression. In actual fact, MIM has opposed 
undertaking armed struggle in the imperialist countries 
since MIM formed in 1984. 

Sincerely, MIM

MIM also takes this opportunity to note that the slam 
against us for not putting a contact persyn's name on the 
previous letters to the warden is downright silly 
considering the source. The warden is an integral part of 
the system that persecutes political activists. MIM does not 
need to hand over names of our activists to the state. We 
encourage readers to support this battle against censorship 
in Wisconsin by sending letters of protest to Warden Berge 
at: Supermax Correctional Institution, 1101 Morrison Drive, 
PO Box 1000, Boscobel, WI 53805-1000. Also send MIM a copy 
of your letter.