At Ironwood State Prison they have an experimental college program where they pay for your books and tuition. But there are some standards you have to meet to be eligible, which are not bad. There is limited space for free books and tuition. So you are able to pursue your degree on your own, all you have to pay for is your books and they'll pay for your tuition.
Well there is a Corrections Officer (CO) who dose not agree with the program. So he writes to the local newspapers saying it's not fair that convicts get a free education and he has to pay. He says rapist and murderers don't deserve a college education. So every time an inmate graduates he will lead a protest and picket outside of the community college and prison. This C.O. has been caught throwing away inmates' outgoing mail, searching inmates' cells and throwing all their belongings all over the place. He gets disciplined by his superior but nothing happens.
They are also making us limit our property to a certain amount. They are including state issued clothes and sleeping materials such as blankets and sheets. It may not sound like much but it is to an inmate who has to have cosmetics, clothes, food, and for those of us who are currently appealing our conviction.
- a California prisoner, January 2005
MIM adds: Most prisons have cut educational programs to virtually nothing leaving organizations like MIM as the only providers of educational materials and classes for prisoners. Prisons don't even pretend to be attempting rehabilitation, instead putting their time and energy into censoring literature and mail, and trying to shut down the few education programs that still exist. MIM needs support in the form of books and funds to help expand our Books for Prisoners program, and legal help to fight the constant censorship.