Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

To: L. Shemonic, Publication Review Officer

Subject: Request for Review of Publication

In accordance with A.D. 04.01.10B, II, K12, I would like to request that the publication Revolution be screened and subsequently be removed from the banned publication list.

In support of this request, listed below is every article which is contained within the May 16, 2010 issue of Revolution, which is enclosed. If the Committee should reject my request, I wish to be advised as to which of these article(s) was deemed objectionable:

[list of articles from publication]

Thank you for your processing of this request.

Central Publication Review Committee [X] Do Not Concur

"Approve - remove from banned list. Review case by case bans."

grievance granted in part; allowed to have [i]Under Lock & Key issue 17[/i]

see 12/19/2010 form

Dear MIM,
Note: On September 7, 2010 I requested an inquiry into the status on pending material to Complex-Level Publications.

Superintendent Gerald L. Rozum
SCI-Somerset
1590 Walters Mill Road
Somerset, PA 15510-0001

5 January 2011

Dear Superintendent Rozum,

This letter is regarding the ongoing, illegal censorship of mail from MIM Distributors to prisoners held at SCI Somerset by SCI Somerset mailroom staff. Since his arrival at SCI Somerset in March 2009, MIM Distributors has mailed Mr. XXX several issues of the newsletter Under Lock & Key, listed below:

Under Lock & Key issue 9 (July 2009)
Under Lock & Key issue 10 (September 2009)
Under Lock & Key issue 14 (May 2010)
Under Lock & Key issue 15 (July 2010)
Under Lock & Key issue 16 (September 2010)

All of these publications were sent via standard/bulk mail and have disappeared without a trace. Mr. XXX has not received them, and neither Mr. XXX nor MIM Distributors were notified that they were censored or under investigation.

I would like to request (1) an investigation into this egregious obstruction of MIM Distributors's and Mr. XXX's First Amendment rights, (2) delivery of these publications to Mr. XXX if they have not already been destroyed by SCI Somerset employees, and (3) an immediate end to tampering with mail from MIM Distributors to prisoners held at SCI Somerset. If there is a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections that we are in violation of, please advise.

I appreciate your effort in investigating this matter and your timely response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors

CC: Affected parties

I just wrote you to notify you of my appeals submission. Well I was seen today in regards to my appeal by a facility Sgt. He advised me that there is no censorship on the material nor was it sent back for being disallowed. The reason neither party received a "1819 Disapproval of Mail Notice" was because they had me listed as "out to court" which was the writing on the envelope, "RTS - OC." He said mailroom made an error and he notified mailroom that said magazines are to be allowed if sent back and to take me off "out to court" for supposedly they had me mixed up with another inmate.

see documentation for "Prisoner appeals censorship" on 2/13/2011

I just wrote you to notify you of my appeals submission. Well I was seen today in regards to my appeal by a facility Sgt. He advised me that there is no censorship on the material nor was it sent back for being disallowed. The reason neither party received a "1819 Disapproval of Mail Notice" was because they had me listed as "out to court" which was the writing on the envelope, "RTS - OC." He said mailroom made an error and he notified mailroom that said magazines are to be allowed if sent back and to take me off "out to court" for supposedly they had me mixed up with another inmate.

see documentation for "Prisoner appeals censorship" on 2/13/2011

see 2/17/2011 documentation

see documentation for 2/7/11

see documentation for 1/25/11

Warden David Michael McCall, Jr.
Perry Correctional Institution
430 Oaklawn Road
Pelzer, SC 29669

4 January 2011

Dear Warden McCall,

I wrote to your office in November 2010 regarding the censorship of several articles of mail from MIM Distributors to prisoners held at Perry Correctional Institution. I have yet to hear a response from your office, and the censorship is ongiong.

In addition to requesting a response to my 15 November 2010 letter, I would like to request a copy of the policy governing the mail room staff at Perry CI, SCDC Policy PS-10-08, "Inmate Correspondence Privileges." Unfortunately I could not locate this policy on the SCDC website. Please send it to the address below.

I appreciate your effort in investigating this matter and your timely response.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors

CC: Affected parties

The September '08 issue - The court concluded that "the publication does appear to encourage prisoners to "fight back" and "unite against the unjustice system."

Of course, the court took these statements out of the context in which they were written and implied.