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- WARNING: FBI tracks our visitors
- Mar 22: Second Edition FPL Online
Campaigns
- We Demand Our Grievances are Addressed in Texas (5/24/2023)
- Stop Censorship of Non-Nude Publications and Photos - Repeal BP-3.91 (5/24/2023)
- Commemorate the Plan de San Diego (5/01/2023)
- Boycott Juneteenth: End Mass Incarceration and Solitary (5/01/2023)
- Fight Censorship in Virginia (2/15/2023)
Recent Posts
- TDCJ Expands Repression of Their Own Policies
- Aftermath Tears
- Comprador Military Generals Break Out in Conflict in Sudan
- Texas History: Plan de San Diego or Juneteenth?
- ULK 80 Responses on Sex Offenders, Pedophiles, Gunnas and Gangstas
Censorship
- Luther Unit in TX (5/5/23)
- Columbia Correctional Institution Annex in FL (5/3/23)
- Tucker Max Unit in AR (4/21/23)
- Tucker Max Unit in AR (4/21/23)
- Tucker Max Unit in AR (4/21/23)















Stop Censorship by North Carolina Department of Public Safety
initiated in January 2012updated on September 11, 2017
In early 2012, as our subscribership in North Carolina had begun to grow quickly, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS) began a systematic censorship of Under Lock & Key and other mail coming from MIM Distributors. Things like the Jailhouse Lawyers Manual and form letters listing the mail that we had sent someone were censored. The NCPDS went on to ban every issue of Under Lock & Key for 3 years straight. To this day, most issues are still censored.
Since 2012, volunteer legal assistants have worked to appeal every instance of censorship. (see our database for back-and-forth correspondence with the NCDPS) It soon became clear that the review process was a rubber stamp of the Publication Review Committee’s original decision. So we focused on investigating the review process and pushing NCDPS to provide justifications and citations of the exact content being censored.
These efforts have resulted in the overturning of some censorship more recently. But even then, the mail does not seem to be delivered to the subscriber. Most recently, the Director of Rehabilitative Programs and Services admitted that inflammatory language against the police does not pose a threat to the safety and security of the institution. So we are making progress in getting them to follow their own rules.
In 2016, a lawsuit made it to court by a former prisoner subscriber of ULK [UPDATE: winter 2017– we have not seen any followup on this case]. We have also seen a hunger strike in one NC prison lead to more mail being let in. Now is the time to step up the pressure on NCDPS mail policies. With the momentum that has been building over the last five years, pushing for a legal victory has the potential to change the practice across the state as we’ve seen happen elsewhere.
Updates/Reports from Inside
- Battling Censorship in NC Prisons (October 2016)
- NCDPS Sued for Censorship of ULK (August 2016)
- Battle for Literacy Builds Inside and Outside NC Prisons (July 2016)
- More First Amendment Violations in North Carolina (October 2015)
- North Carolina Bans Legally Permitted Activities, Nominal Victory (July 2014)
- Don't Be Silenced - Censor Victory in North Carolina (March 2014)
- ULK Censored in Retaliation for Grievance Campaign (September 2012)
- Proof!: The State Lies in Order to Censor (November 2011)
Related Censorship
Click for more | STATE | DATE | TYPE | TITLE | REASON GIVEN | FACILITY | DIRECT LINK |
![]() | [NC] | 09/05/2017 | zine/pamphlet | Maoism and the Black Panther Party | .0109H pages 2,4 "Could like precipitate violence among races of people" | Foothills Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 08/15/2017 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 57 (July 2017) | unknown - no notification yet | Scotland Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 05/15/2017 | letter | personalized | claiming he wasn't there | Lumberton Correctional Institution |
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![]() | [NC] | 04/21/2017 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 55 (March 2017) | p. 13 ”Regarding Daily Body Searches” promotes insurrection [Download Documentation] | Lumberton Correctional Institution |
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![]() | [NC] | 04/21/2017 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 55 (March 2017) | p.13 "Regarding Daily Body Searches" promotes insurrection | Piedmont Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 04/01/2017 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 55 (March 2017) | "return to sender - vacant" - he's still there | Scotland Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 03/19/2017 | letter | Unconfirmed Mail Form | return to sender | Lumberton Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 02/23/2017 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 54 (Jan 2017) | page 14 "Last paragraph advocates for prison violence if necessary" | Lanesboro Correctional Institution |
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![]() | [NC] | 02/23/2017 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 54 (Jan 2017) | “Last paragraph [on p. 14] advocates for prison violence if necessary.” | Piedmont Correctional Institution |
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![]() | [NC] | 12/21/2016 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 53 (Nov. 2016) | unknown - no reason given | Marion Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 12/12/2016 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 53 (Nov. 2016) | newsletter promoting prisoner work stoppages and additional anti-authority activities is not authorized as inmate personal property | Scotland Correctional Institution |
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![]() | [NC] | 12/12/2016 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 53 (Nov. 2016) | newsletter promoting prisoner work stoppages and additional anti-authority activities is not authorized as inmate personal property | Pamlico Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 11/01/2016 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 52 (Sept 2016) | unknown-no notification given | Scotland Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 09/02/2016 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 51 (July 2016) | page 1 (sept.9 Day of Peace and Solidarity 2016) ENCOURAGES INSURRECTION AND DISORDER | Pender Correctional Institution |
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![]() | [NC] | 09/02/2016 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 51 (July 2016) | page 1 (sept.9 Day of Peace and Solidarity 2016) ENCOURAGES INSURRECTION AND DISORDER | Marion Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 09/01/2016 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 51 (July 2016) | page 1 (sept.9 Day of Peace and Solidarity 2016) ENCOURAGES INSURRECTION AND DISORDER | Scotland Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 08/20/2016 | letter | personalized | unknown-no notification given | Scotland Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 08/01/2016 | letter | Unconfirmed Mail Form | unknown- no notification given | Pender Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 07/05/2016 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 50 (May 2016) | Pender Correctional Institution |
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[NC] | 04/25/2016 | zine/pamphlet | Under Lock & Key 49 (March 2016) | p.1,10 advocates insurrection/violence | Pender Correctional Institution |
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