PA Censorship victory and setback

But we can still win anti-censorship struggles

I'm writing to let you know that I have received Jan., Feb., and Mar. issues of MIM Notes--after my attorney filed a lawsuit [in February].

--A Pennsylvania prisoner, May 2002

One good thing

The one good thing that's been happening lately is that the MIM Notes have been getting in lately. I think this is due to a change of staff in the Publications Review Committee. They used to have one guy in there who turned down everything except sports magazines and smut magazines. I suppose to keep us "dumbed down." Hopefully this new relaxation of regulations for books/zines will last a while.

I did see the [Progress Review Committee], the ones who decide if they let me out or not… I can safely say that it went as bad as possible. They informed me that I was on a "Do Not Let Out" list put out by the central office of the [Department of Corrections], which people such as Russell Maroon Shoats are on. [Russell Maroon Shoats was a founding member of the Black Unity Council, which eventually merged with the Philadelphia Black Panther Party. He was convicted of attacking a police station and killing a policeman in response to the police murder of a Black youth in 1970.] Personally, I think this is being done for the new Super-Max set to open up by next year. Label more people as being a security threat to justify the costs and need for a new
super-max. You know how things like this go.

Have you heard of the new National Security Exit/Entry registration policy they're implementing? Photographing and finger-printing all visitors coming in to the U.S.? I've always considered the U.S. as a police state, while before it was more or less hidden now it's out in the open. I think this is all still just the beginning, and only going to get worse.

--A Pennsylvania prisoner, April 2002

MIM comments: The previous two prisoners wrote from SCI Greene, which is infamous for restricting media access to prisoners. MIM led a campaign against this censorship, calling it a clear attack on the ability of the writers at MIM Notes and prisoners to criticize the Amerikan prison system and express wider political views. We asked for prisoners and non-prisoners alike to send in postcards and petitions asking the administration to stop censoring MIM Notes. Prisoners such as the first letter-writer also filed lawsuits to end the censorship.

We thank all the prisoners who agitated for their MIM Notes and kept us up-to-date as to whether the papers were getting in or not. We can't say for certain if the change in policy was due to our campaign or the new Publications Review staff or both--in either case, the change was short lived, as several prisoners from wrote to tell us SCI Greene censored the May issues of MIM Notes (see below).

A final note: close readers will have noticed that these letters are over six months old yet just appearing in Under Lock and Key. Mostly this reflects just how under-staffed MIM Notes is. We have a hard time keeping up with the current level of correspondence--never mind that as we become more effective at distributing the paper that level
increases. We are always on the lookout for consistent, motivated correspondents who agree with the basic principles behind MIM's work in prisons.

On the flip side, prisoners also need to understand the realities of our work and keep writing to us, passing around MIM Notes and MIM Theory, etc. even if MIM does not respond to their letters persynally. This particular letter-writer demonstrated admirable patience,
consistency and initiative. Even though MIM had not written in six months, he sent in art for use in MIM Notes, submitted a lengthy book review, kept us up-to-date on doings in his prison, and stayed on the MIM Notes mailing list.

PA prisons: "USA Today si, MIM Notes no"

On June 6, 2002 the mail room held my MIM Notes for the Publication Review Committee. A few days later the Committee denied its entry. I appealed their decision, but I don’t think that I'll get any positive results.

There aren't many so-called rights in america right now and the ones people do have are slowly being stripped away. Privacy doesn't exist anymore, if it ever did for that matter. Just about every anti-american group or any group that expresses oppositional views to this government is under heavy suveillance. The only news I get is from the USA Today and Christian Science Monitor. The USA Today constantly gives biased reports and the Christian Science Monitor isn’t much better, except that they give better international coverage.

--A Pennsylvania prisoner, July 2002

MIM responds: MIM received several other reports that the May issues of MIM Notes were censored, including from the prisoner above who wrote to say he did get Jan-Mar issues. As of December we have no evidence the May issues ever made it inside.

MIM publishes its newspaper to counteract the spin put out by bourgeois mouthpieces like USA Toady and Christian Science monitor. But that does not mean we do not read them or encourage others not to. We don't have the resources to cover international events in persyn or even carry out thorough polls here inside U.$. borders, so we have to make do with the available bourgeois sources, just as Marx did when writing Capital or Lenin did when writing Imperialism.


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