On July 3, 2006 I wrote to you explaining that the [What is MIM pamphlet] was disapproved and withheld from me. I filed a 602 on this action. The following response was given on the "informal level" review of the 602.
"Denied. The CDC 1819 was signed by Capt P.D. Brazelton disapproving your publication of M.I.M. which lacks in penalogical interests, per CCR Title 15 3006 (c) (16)."
- a California prisoner, August 2006
MIM adds: We are having a problem with increasing censorship across the California prisons. Suddenly the prisons are finding MIM's theory journals, newspapers, and the What is MIM pamphlet all a threat to their security. None of the prisons censoring MIM literature cite any examples of MIM literature causing prisoners to engage in violence or leading to any other security breach, and this literature has been in circulation in California's prisons for over two decades now so we certainly should have some evidence if this danger is real. Instead the censorship reports cite things like MIM's use of the word "revolutionary" or the fact articles are not signed with author's names. Several prisoners have appealed the censorship to various levels, and all have so far been denied. We are now at the point of seeking legal help to file a lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections. If you know of a lawyer who might be willing to work on this case, please put them in touch with us.