IL prisoners' anticensor suit heard in court

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am writing to give you an update on my
pending litigation against the Illinois
Department of Corrections in which we
challenged the overly restrictive rules relating
to inmate possession and retention of reading
materials.

After numerous delays, a hearing was
finally held in Chicago's Federal District
Court before Judge Charles P. Kocoras from
November 13-21, 2001. At this time, we were
able to set forth before the court numerous
infringements upon our ability to receive
literature through the mail from visitors.
Several inmates provided documented proof
that they were denied the right to have family
members drop off books and magazines on
visits, although this is clearly authorized by
departmental rule. Called as adverse
witnesses, the wardens from the Tamms and
Stateville prisons were forced to acknowledge
that they had in fact allowed this to occur at
their facilities.

During the course of the hearing, it was
discovered that a preliminary study had been
undertaken to potentially eliminate our ability
to receive packages of literature through the
mail. When confronted with this evidence, the
defendants attempted to disassociate
themselves from the plan by attributing it to
a prior administration.

One of the main focal points of the hearing
was the issue that the DOC has written rules
pertaining to publications that they simply
don't follow. For example: they withheld two
issues of MIM Notes for ten months, for being
"gang-related." The newspapers were
supposed to be promptly examined by the
Publication Screening Committee, but they
never were. Only by continuous complaints
by our attorneys were they finally released.
The court has now taken the case under
advisement and a final ruling could be issued
at any time. When it is, I'll let you know where
we stand.

In solidarity,
-an Illinois prisoner, December, 2001


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