Dear MIM,
This is in response to your letter dated August 3, 2002 regarding authorizing MIM as a distributor of publications they do not publish…
You have requested that MIM be authorized to distribute publications which they have not published. As stated in my previous letter our Mail (Inmate) Rule requires new books to be received directly from the publisher. However, we do permit suppliers and distributors who have been approved to send in publications, but these cannot be open to the public.
You asked what was the criterion for selecting these distributors. These distributors must not be open to the general public, must have a tax/business id number, must have a wide distribution, and may only distribute new publications.
…You may work through Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com to make available publications you do not publish. These large distributors have met the strict criteria required by the Oregon Department of Corrections for distribution of publications to Oregon's prisons…
I trust you will be able to work through other approved publishers/distributors to ensure the distribution of publications MIM does not publish.
--Jacy Duran, Central Mail Administrator for Oregon, October 2002
MIM responds:
The policy prohibiting prisoners from receiving books from distributors like MIM means that prisoners in Oregon can not receive literature from Books for Prisoners programs. MIM's program, and others across the country, rely on donations of books and money, and can not afford to purchase books for prisoners through pricy distributors like Amazon.com. We have been pursing authorization for MIM to send in books but continue to meet up with ridiculous arguments like those from the mail administrator printed above.
The "strict criteria" are both meaningless and not enforced. First, Amazon.com distributes used publications. Second, any distributor can get a tax/business ID number, there is no restriction on this, it just costs money. Third, having a "wide distribution" is very subjective but we're certain that MIM has a wider distribution in prisons across the country than either Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com. But in reality there is no reason for the Oregon DOC to care about a distributor having a wide distribution since they are only concerned with books being sent to Oregon prisoners.
These criteria (possibly fabricated for the sake of a response to MIM's insistent requests) clearly have nothing to do with the security of the Oregon prisons and can only be seen as a way to restrict prisoner's access to educational material. Unlike MIM, Barnes & Nobles and Amazon.com do not accept labor in exchange for books. They charge high prices and do not work with the prisoners to study the books they send in. The only possible outcome of this policy is to limit educational opportunities for prisoners in Oregon.
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