Outlaw Biker Magazine is not known for its obscene or sexually explicit material. At most there is nudity to go along with scooters and all those bikers who live a free and loose life style in our society. Nevertheless issue 145 was rejected by mail room staff working at the correction center in Shelton, Washington.
In a notice of rejection officials claimed obscene or sexually explicit content was portrayed in the magazine. But they failed to identify what it was or why this was a violation of incoming mail policy.
On appeal Captain Trauscher upheld their rejection for the same reason given by the mail room. But Deputy Directory Lynn Delano exposed this as nothing more than a criminal conspiracy. By reviewing the publication and finding no obscene or sexually explicit material in this magazine.
While Delano settled this she proved honesty wasn't her strong suit either because she acquiesced in their rejection for other reasons which were proven untrue. She asserts Bill Riley, her "gang expert", found a gang related advertisement in the magazine. This claim was debunked when someone checked the ad and it proved to be about the Hells Angeles Motorcycle Club, a group which has nothing to do with gangs or the prisons in Washington State.
Prisoners or their correspondents may appeal any time mail is rejected. Outsiders do this by writing to the Director at the Department of Corrections Headquarters in Olympia, Washington. Prisoners may do the same after seeking review by the warden.
Although favorable decisions aren't always possible, your efforts help to expose those who would violate our first amendment rights and force us to suffer even more oppression by stopping our magazines, or mail merely because we're in prison and their in a position to do that.
-- a prisoner in WA, November 2002
MIM responds:
We agree with this prisoner's assessment of the value of appealing censorship. And we
take this one step further, urging people to send stories about their censorship and appeals
to MIM Notes so that we can print them and more widely educate about and expose the
censorship.
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