Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

November 12, 2017

Michigan Department of Corrections
Office of the Secretary
206 E. Michigan Ave.
Grandview Plaza
PO Box 30003
Lansing, MI 48909

Re: Appeal of Censorship of Publication
Under Lock & Key Issue (Notice Failed to State Issue Number)


To Whom It May Concern:

We are in receipt of a Notice of Package/Mail Rejection form from your agency. The form fails to state with specificity which issue is being censored and the specific content which is objectionable. Failure to provide this information renders such censorship de facto unappealable.

Due process requires adequate notice of the reasons for censorship. Instructive is the District Court’s reasoning set forth in Prison Legal News v. Jones, “Procunier demands that the publisher "be given a reasonable opportunity to protest" the censorship. Id. at 418. For an opportunity to be reasonable, the publisher must know of the grounds upon which the publication has been censored. See Henry J. Friendly, "Some Kind of Hearing", 123 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1267, 1280 (1975) (explaining that it is "fundamental" to due process that "notice be given . . . that . . . clearly inform[s] the individual of the proposed action and the grounds for it"). This knowledge component of due process does not turn on whether the publication is the first copy or a subsequent copy. What matters is the basis for censorship. If a subsequent impoundment decision is based on a different reason not previously shared with [the publisher or distributor], due process requires that [the publisher or distributor] be told of this new reason.” 126 F. Supp. 3d 1233, 1258 (N.D. Fla. 2015).

As such, we object to the censorship as failing to provide adequate information upon which to formulate and base any appeal. Please provide additional information which clearly states the objectionable material and reason for censorship within fifteen (15) days of receipt of this letter.

Until such time as the Michigan Department of Corrections provides the constitutionally mandated information to provide adequate notice of the specific reasons for censorship and the citations to the allegedly objectionable material, a violation of our constitutional rights under the First Amendment will continue.

Please govern yourself accordingly.


Sincerely,

MIM Distributors