Censorship victory leads to more censorship

It was MIM Theory #2 and #3 that was denied. The reason that was given to me was that it (MT2/3) was sent in by a private party, and not by a "regular book vendor."

However, this of course is incorrect. Never once has this happened to me with a thing you guys have ever sent me! Unfortunately, ever since we won an appeal against the "free staff" in the mailroom, we have been experiencing very heavy censorship. The appeal we inmates were able to win was concerning the withholding of our mail for no apparent reason at all, except of course for the sole purpose of trying to play psychological games with certain individuals. Anyway, the warden has promised to add some very much-needed oversight to the mailroom, and has also said he would properly notify us if any of our mail is to be delayed.

Well, I guess the mailroom staff didn't like that too much, hence the heavy censorship.

Due to our limited communication with other inmates, I've only heard of three to four cases of censorship, not including myself. However, the cases I've heard about were very disturbing to say the least.

One case involved the disposal of an individual's personal mail without a chance to challenge it through the appeals system. Another case involved the censorship of a predominantly African newspaper. The reason given to this individual is still somewhat unclear. They refused to give a specific reason. But I can almost guarantee it's racially motivated. By the way, it's been close to a year since my "validation packet" was submitted to Sacramento for approval or disapproval. However, they have yet to respond to it one way or another, which leads me to believe Sacramento has rejected my gang validation. My regular S.H.U. term was up nine months ago. I go in front of committee in a few weeks. So I'm interested to see how or what excuse they give me in order to keep me back here in this damned dungeon.

Oh, and by the way, I'm unable to send you guys the "censorship slip" that was give to me. The reason for that is because the censorship slip has to be attached to the appeal, and we're not allowed copies until the final level of appeal. However, here goes another slip that was given to me. It's just basically a notice to let me know my appeal is being processed. Once I receive the final outcome I'll notify you guys.

-a California prisoner, July 2005