MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
MIM Distributors protests no notification given regarding censorship
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Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099
April 3, 2012
RE: Censorship incident occurred at Eastham Unit ? exclusion of publication sent to prisoner XXX from MIM Distributors
Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,
I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Eastham Unit in Lovelady, Texas.
MIM Distributors sent the above named prisoner a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on November 18, 2011.
We recently learned from the prisoner (Mr. XXX) that he never received the publication listed above. Neither Mr. XXX nor MIM Distributors received any notice of censorship determination from your Department or the mailroom staff at Eastham Unit.
The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."
Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).
In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.
With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to know what determination has been made over the mentioned publication;
2. in case of a negative determination, to be notified of the reasons of the censorship decision, and to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of its materials;
3. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Eastham Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher and prisoner.
We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
MIM Distributors
CC: Affected parties
Charles Bell, Senior Warden
Eastham Unit
2665 Prison Road #1
Lovelady, TX 75851
Michael Upshaw, Region I Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region I Director?s Office
1225 Avenue G
Huntsville, TX 77340
MIM Distributors writes to prison administrators regarding ongoing censorship without notification
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Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099
April 3, 2012
RE: Allred Unit ? History of censorship without giving notification to publisher or prisoners
Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,
I am writing this letter about a series of censorship incidents that recently occurred at Allred Unit in Iowa Park, Texas. I apologize that this information is somewhat dated; unfortunately since we were not notified of this censorship, we had to rely on our own investigation which took some time.
Using the U.S. Postal Service, MIM Distributors sent several prisoners at Allred Unit mail which they never received. The mailroom staff at Allred Unit failed to provide notice of censorship to the prisoners and MIM Distributors. Below is a detailed outline of the mail I am referring to:
To XXX
1. A letter dated June 2011 sent via First Class mail on June 26, 2011
2. Under Lock & Key No. 21 (July/August 2011) sent via Presorted Standard mail on July 28, 2011
To YYY
Under Lock & Key No. 22 (November/December 2011) sent via Presorted Standard mail on September 21, 2011
To ZZZ
A book titled The Black Panthers Speak sent via USPS on May 15, 2011
The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."
Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).
In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.
With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to know what determination has been made over the mentioned materials;
2. in case of a negative determination, to be notified of the reasons of the censorship decision, and to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of its materials;
3. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Allred Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher.
We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
MIM Distributors
CC: Affected parties
Richard Wathen, Senior Warden
Allred Unit
2101 FM 369 North
Iowa Park, TX 76367
Jason Heaton, Region V Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region V Director's Office
304 West 6th Street
Plainview, TX 79072
I appealed it December 30, 2011. I will write a letter to the Director's Review Committee, and make my complaint.
01/25/2012
Inter-Office Communications
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From: Mailroom
Subject: DRC Ruling on Publication
This is to inform you that the DRC upheld the MSCP denial of the following publication:
Publication Under Lock & Key Date Nov/Dec 2011 N 23
DRC denial date 1/18/12
04/03/2012
MIM Distributors says censorship without notification is illegal
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Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099
April 3, 2012
RE: Censorship incident occurred at Hughes Unit ? exclusion of publication sent to several prisoners from MIM Distributors
Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,
I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Hughes Unit in Gatesville, Texas.
MIM Distributors sent several prisoners at Hughes Unit a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on November 18, 2011.
We recently learned from several people at Hughes Unit that they never received the publication listed above. Instead it was censored. We are aware that some people appealed the censorship decision, and that it was upheld by the Director's Review Committee. I am writing because MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of censorship determination from your Department, either from the mailroom staff at Hughes Unit, or from the Director's Review Committee.
The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."
Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).
In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.
With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to appeal the censorship decision to exclude Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011);
3. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Hughes Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher and prisoners.
We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
MIM Distributors
CC: Affected parties
Edward Smith, Senior Warden
Hughes Unit
Route 2, Box 4400
Gatesville, TX 76597
Gilbert Campuzano, Region VI Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region VI Director's Office
4616 West Howard Lane, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78728
MIM Distributors says we were not notified of censorship
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Ombudsman Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
PO Box 99
Huntsville, TX 77342-0099
April 3, 2012
RE: Censorship incident occurred at Lewis Unit ? exclusion of publication sent to prisoner xxx from MIM Distributors
Dear Ombudsman Coordinator,
I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Gib Lewis Unit in Woodville, Texas.
MIM Distributors sent the above named prisoner a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 23 (November/December 2011). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on November 18, 2011.
We recently learned from the prisoner (Mr. xxx) that he never received the publication listed above. I am writing because MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of censorship determination from your Department or the mailroom staff at Lewis Unit.
The TDCJ Board Policy-03.91 (rev. 2) "Uniform Offender Correspondence Rules" states at Section IV E "If a publication is rejected, the offender and sender shall be provided a written notice of the disapproval and a statement of the reason for disapproval within 72 hours of receipt of the publication on a Publication Denial Form. Within the same time period, the offender and sender shall be notified of the procedure for appeal. The offender shall be given a sufficiently detailed description of the rejected publication to permit effective use of the appeal procedures. The offender or sender may appeal the rejection of the publication through procedures provided by these rules."
Additionally, both the sender and the prisoner have a right, under the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to receive notice and an opportunity to be heard when prison administrators or staff prevent the sender?s expressive materials from reaching their intended recipients (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, as reaffirmed on the point by Turner V. Safley, 482 U.S. 78 (1987) and Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401 (1989) and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).
In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to the publisher (MIM Distributors), under local policies and/or practices, prison administrators and staff violated clearly established constitutional law and acted under color of state law for purposes of 42 U.S.C. ? 1983.
With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to know what determination has been made over the mentioned publication;
2. in case of a negative determination, to be notified of the reasons of the censorship decision, and to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of its materials;
3. and that all future decisions to censor material from MIM Distributors to anyone held in Lewis Unit be accompanied by procedurally and legally required notification to the publisher and prisoner.
We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
MIM Distributors
CC: Affected parties
Cody Ginsel, Senior Warden
Gib Lewis Unit
777 FM 3497
Woodville, TX 75990
Michael Upshaw, Region I Director
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Region I Director?s Office
1225 Avenue G
Huntsville, TX 77340
