MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Form Filed: Regular Grievance response: can't file grievance yet
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You have the option to file a grievance only after the publication has been sent to the Publication Review Committee and you have received their decision
Form Filed: VA DOC Facility Notification of Publication Disapproval
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D. Material, documents or photographs that emphasize depictions or promotions of violence, disorder, insurrection, terrorist or criminal activity in violation of state or federal laws or the violation of the Offender Disciplinary Procedure
F. Material that depicts, describes, or promotes gang bylaws, initiations, organizational structure, codes, or other gang-related activity or association.
The following items are considered contraband and are not permitted in the facility:
Magazines, books, any correspondence containing sexually explicit material, information about the fabrication of weapons or explosive devices, any gang related material, electrical, plumbinb, or information on locks, information advocating overthrow of government, or anything containing material deemed to be detrimental to the safety and/or security of the facility, whether sent from publisher or citizen
MIM appeals censorship and asks for clarity
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Deputy Director, Division of Operations
Virginia Department of Corrections
P.O. Box 26963
Richmond, VA 23261
September 12, 2014
Dear Deputy Director,
I am writing to appeal the censorship of several publications which were allegedly sent from MIM Distributors to prisoners held by the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC). I say ?allegedly? because I am not aware of when or to whom these publications were mailed. Unfortunately the letter we received to notify us of the censored publications does not contain this information.
With this letter, I would like to request:
1) An independent review of the decision to censor all the items listed on the enclosed letter from your Department dated August 29, 2014.
2) In case of negative determination, to be notified of precisely why the Department has decided to uphold the censorship of the listed publications.
3) To be notified of (a) when these publications were received, (b) at what facilities, and (c) to whom they were addressed.
I apologize in the delay in getting this appeal letter out to you. I understand that my letter of appeal is supposed to be sent within 15 calendar days from the date on the disapproval letter. Unfortunately, although the letter to MIM Distributors notifying of disapproval is dated August 29, 2014, the envelope is not postmarked until September 2, 2014. I hope you will take this into consideration.
MIM(Prisons) protests censorship and disapproval list
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Benjamin Wright, Warden
River North Correctional Center
329 Dell Brook Lane
Independence, VA 24348
July 29, 2014
RE: Censorship of Under Lock & Key and other mail to Mr.XXX
Dear Warden Wright,
Recently MIM Distributors received a copy of the disapproved publications list from your prison. It includes multiple issues of our newsletter Under Lock & Key and our theory journal MIM Theory with reasons that are completely unrelated to the content of the publications in question. Specifically you have on the disapproved list:
Under Lock & Key 23 for "Oral sex"
Under Lock & Key 24 for "penetration"
Under Lock & Key #15 for "penetration"
Under Lock & Key #20 for "penetration"
Under Lock & Key #25 for "penetration"
Under Lock & Key #26 for "Sex Acts"
Under Lock & Key #27 and #28 for "penetration"
Under Lock & Key #33 for "Newspaper depicts the US prison system negatively and promotes disruption"
MIM Theory #9 for no reason given
MIM Theory #11 for "Sexual descriptions, multiple sex partners, oral sex"
MIM Theory #13 for "Spanish"
In spite of many of these including page numbers supposedly containing the material in question, we can state definitively that there is no oral sex, penetration, sex acts or anything related to sex in Under Lock & Key or MIM Theory. And MIM Theory #13 is not in Spanish, although there is nothing in the VA prison rules preventing prisoners from receiving Spanish material. The only claim on this list that is related to the actual content in Under Lock & Key is that the newspaper depicts the US prison system negatively. While this is accurate, it does not constitute a reason for censorship, rather it appears to be a point of political disagreement with our publication. The newspaper does not promote disruption, and in fact we have found that readers of Under Lock & Key are more likely to resolve conflicts peacefully and advance their education while in prison.
Further, additional issues of Under Lock & Key have been rejected for illegitimate reasons:
Under Lock & Key 37 was rejected on 4/11/2014: "Material, documents, or photographs that emphasize depictions or promotions of violence, disorder, insurrection, terrorist, or criminal activity in violation of state or federal laws or the violation of the Offender Disciplinary Procedure"
A introductory study group letter was rejected on 4/10/2014: "Material, documents, or photographs that emphasize depictions or promotions of violence, disorder, insurrection, terrorist, or criminal activity in violation of state or federal laws or the violation of the Offender Disciplinary Procedure" and "Material whose content could be detrimental to the offender rehabilitative efforts or the safety or health of offenders, staff, or others based on the offender's specific criminogenic needs."
A letter explaining how to form a study group, and an invitation to join a study group were rejected on 1/22/2014: "Material whose content could be detrimental to the offender rehabilitative efforts or the safety or health of offenders, staff, or others based on the offender's specific criminogenic needs."
We were never notified of these mail rejections until Mr. XXX forwarded us the notifications of disapproval.
We request the following actions:
- Investigation into the above listed publications on the disapproved publications list to determine what material they contain that justifies this disapproval,
- Notification of the specific findings of this investigation.
- Notification of all MIM Distributors rejected mail directly from the prison upon rejection
- Appeal the censorship of all of the above listed publications and letters
I appreciate your consideration, and anticipate your response.
Sincerely,
MIM Distributors
PO Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140
CC: Affected parties
08/06/2014
Warden responds directing protests to Publications Review Committee
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MIM(Prisons) forwarded protest letter to: Publications Review Committee, Virginia Department of Corrections, PO Box 26963, Richmond, Virginia 23261.
08/26/2014
PRC responds with vague letter about some items being on disapproval list and some being approved Download Documentation
09/10/2014
MIM(Prisons) responds to PRC letter
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Louis B. Cei, Chair
Publications Review Committee
Virginia Department of Corrections
PO Box 26963
Richmond, VA 23261
September 10, 2014
Mr. Cei,
Thank you for your letter dated August 26 following up on our correspondence about MIM Distributors literature sent to Mr. X.
We appreciate your assurance that PRC will mail us a notification informing us of disapproved items. We look forward to a timely notification of these issues in the future. It is not clear from your letter whether we will receive a letter from the PRC covering the items for which we never received notification in the past. If that was not your intent, we request that these be sent to afford us the opportunity to request independent review and appeal the denials.
You mention that several of our publications are on the Master Disapproved list for reasons that do not match with the list we received from Mr. X. Mr. X received his list from the prison so there is apparently some incorrect information circulating and being misapplied by staff. We hope you will be able to clear up this confusion and ensure VA policies regarding mail will be applied appropriately.
Please forward us a copy of this master disapproved list so that we can have a complete list of our publications that have been censored and the reasons for this. Mr. X is being denied our literature for reasons of sex acts or Spanish content, which your letter confirms is incorrect. We will be able to use your Master List to appropriately appeal the denials. Similarly, we would like to know which MIM Theory journals are approved for offenders to purchase as you indicated that 5 of them are on the list as approved.
In summary we are requesting the following actions:
- Formal notification of all past disapproved mail items so that we will have the ability to request independent review
- Delivery to Mr. X of the publications he was denied that are not on the list as denied by the PRC
- A copy of the Master Disapproved list or complete listing of all MIM(Prisons) mail that is on that list and the reasons for inclusion
- A list of all MIM literature on the approved master list
Thank you for your time in addressing this matter.
Sincerely,
Legal Assistant, MIM(Prisons)
PO Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140
Publications Review Committee
Virginia Department of Corrections
PO Box 26963
Richmond, VA 23261
August 13, 2014
RE: Censorship of Under Lock & Key #38 and other mail to Mr. XXX
Dear Publications Review Committee,
Recently MIM Distributors was informed by Mr. XXX that Under Lock & Key May/June 2014 (#38) was disapproved by the Publication Review Committee. We did not receive any notification of this censorship. You are required, by Virginia Inmate Mail policy, to notify us of these rejections: "If opened, the unauthorized correspondence will be returned directly to the sender if known, with a written explanation for disapproval." (see https://vadoc.virginia.gov/offenders/prison-life/mail.shtm)
Further, court cases have upheld this requirement. In particular Montcalm Publishing Co. v. Beck, 80 F.3d105 (4th Cir. 1996) includs the following ruling regarding Virginia Department of Corrections Operating Procedure: "We hold that publishers are entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard when their publications are disapproved for receipt by inmate subscribers."
We were never notified of this mail rejection, a clear violation of policy.
We request the following actions:
- A copy of the official inmate mail policy for the VA DOC
- Notification of all MIM Distributors rejected mail directly from the prison upon rejection
- Appeal the censorship of all Under Lock & Key May/June 2014
I appreciate your consideration, and anticipate your response.