In 1997 a prisoner in AZ filed a complaint against the DOC that our law libraries were inadequate. The federal court ruled that only enough books to process an appeal were necessary. The AZ DOC took advantage of the ruling and did away with the library except for a few books necessary to file an appeal. These few books are kept in the librarian's office under close scrutiny and an inmate is likely to be able to do 1 hour of research weekly.
A few of us who are somewhat fair litigators had to scramble to collect and build our own private law libraries. Then the DOC came up with a policy that prisoners can only keep a total of 7 books in their possession, and must store the remainder. This is not strictly enforced except against people who are activists and good litigators -- such as myself.
In the 90's and up until today, prison conditions have gotten so barbaric that the AZ DOC had hundreds of civil rights complaints filed against them. So they were more than happy to find a way to take our law libraries away.
Then about 3 months back they once again changed the policy to take all major appliances that were not in a "see through" case. But their main interest was to do away with the typewriters which would further handicap the prisoners doing legal work. They now sell a "see through" case TV in the inmate store but NO typewriter.
I am presently involved in a case against the DOC regarding their monopoly on what they sell to prisoners -- a violation of the RICO act. This case is in the appeals court. Also I along with Prison Legal News attorneys are contemplating a civil suit against the DOC because of their censorship and banning of the Prison Legal News Newsletter.
I'll keep you posted on that endeavor, but would like your readers to know a few of the things we've learned fighting censorship of PLN.
The best way to fight censorship in prisons is to flood the courts with civil law suits. The only way to win these fights is to generate a lot of attention and publicity.
Certain processes and procedures must be strictly followed by all prison administrators before a letter or publication may be censored. A prisoner must be notified that such a letter or publication has been rejected and must be given opportunity to protest that decision. Also, any complaints must be referred to a prison official other than the person who originally disapproved of the letter or publication.
Prison officials cannot just use the term "security threat" when rejecting a letter or publication. They must provide specific and substantial proof that prison discipline will be undermined by allowing prisoners to read and possess the material in question.
Let me stress that before filing a civil action prisoners must exhaust all administrative procedures even though the administration can't resolve part of the complaint.
I hope some of this letter may have been enlightening on these issues.
-- A prisoner in AZ
P.S. Any time you need any legal advice on any civil rights issues regarding prisoners and prisons, just ask. MIM replies: censorship is one of the biggest problems facing MIM's political organizing work in prisons in Amerika. We definitely need legal help, both from those on the inside as well as from any lawyers or paralegal activists on the outside. Even if you don't have legal skills you can contribute by writing protest letters to the censoring prisons, collecting protest petition and postcard signatures to send to the prisons, and distributing educational flyers about prison censorship. If you want to work with MIM on this important battle, let us know.
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