Tracking Prison Censorship in the United States

Denied: letter advocates work stoppage

Prior to NCDPS notifying MIM Distributors, the subscriber filed an appeal at this institution.

Director of Rehabilitative Programs and Services
North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Prisons
MSC 4221
Raleigh, NC 27699-4221

17 July 2016

RE: censorship of Under Lock & Key No. 50

Dear Sir/Madam,

This letter is in response to the Letter to Publisher, dated 5 July 2016, from Publication Review Committee Chair, Doug Pardue. It states that Under Lock Key issue 50 has been censored for “encourages insurrection and disorder” on p.8.

The article on page 8 discusses the history of the Black Panther Party and in particular its practice of patrolling the police in the Black community as a means of protecting people from potentially deadly interactions, a problem that continues to plague our society today. In no part of the analysis does it encourage insurrection or disorder within the institutions of the NCDPS. It promotes order in the oppressed communities.

As I reiterate with your office every two months, Under Lock & Key explicitly opposes prisoners taking up violence or insurrection in every issue. The continued claims that ULK promotes insurrection and disorder in every issue do not seem connected to the objectives of your department.

I am requesting that upon review of this incident that you will keep ULK 50 off of the list of banned publications, and deliver the copies that we have mailed to each subscriber held in your institutions.

Reason: 1. Not specifically authorized by DOC 450.100 Mail for Prison Offenders or any other policy or applicable Operational Memorandum

36. The eMessaging videogram (i.e. pre-recorded video attached to an eMessage) does not comply with DOC 450.100 Mail for Prison Offenders or otherwise contains any display of nudity, behavior or actions that are sexual in nature, drugs/alcohol or related paraphernalia, weapons, graphics or paraphernalia associated with any Security Threat Group, or unlawful activity.

1 book rejected as it's [sic] content pertains to Security Threat Groups & promotes the overtrow [sic] of government all throughout.

Pages: 10-13, 19, 71-77, 104-105, 168-169

Mailroom Employee Name
H. Guerrero

Reason: 19, 20

19. Advocates violence against others and/or the overthrow of authority.

20. Advocates that a protected class or group of individuals is inferior and/or makes such a class/group the object of ridicule and/or scorn, and may reasonably be thought to precipitate a violent confrontation between the recipient and a member(s) of the target group.

1 book rejected as it's[sic] content pertains to rallying and organizing groups that encourage the overtrow of government.

Pages 10-13, 19, 71-77, 104-105, 168-170

Superintendent: Jeffrey A. Uttecht
Coyote Ridge Corrections Center
1301 N Ephrata Ave
PO Box 769
Connell, WA 99326

April 14, 2016

RE: Illegal censorship of book Power and the Struggle for Aztlan
to xxx held at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center

Dear Superintendent,

On October 19, 2015 MIM Distributors mailed the book Power and the Struggle for Aztlan to the above named prisoner. The book was mailed in brand new condition, from the publisher/distributor, via USPS Media Mail.

In November 2015, Coyote Ridge Mailroom notified Mr. xxx that the book would not be delivered for reasons wholly unapplicable to the book in question. (See attached “Exhibit A”) The book does not violate DOC 450.100, and was not an eMessage. There is a note contained on this first form, which states “contents pertains to Security Threat Groups & promotes the overtrow[sic] of government all throughout.” So it is evident that even this erroneous and odd Rejection Notice had political intent. Mr. xxx questioned the censorship for reasons 1 and 36, and was then issued a new form (yet with the same date as the previous form) citing reasons 19 and 20.

There are a number of problems with this censorship incident.

1. The sender, MIM Distributors, was not notified of the censorship at any time by Coyote Ridge Mailroom Staff or any administrator at Coyote Ridge or within the Publication Review Committee.

Your own mail rules state Policy DOC 450.100 IX. Rejecting/Returning Mail A.
When rejecting mail, mailroom employees will provide written notice to the offender and sender/recipient using DOC 05-525 Rejection Notice, or an equivalent automated notice through JPay for rejected eMessages.

As you are certainly aware, the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly stated that 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 plain and striking contradiction with these principles, neither the prisoners, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the censorship decision or actually of any decisions that the Mailroom staff has made with regard to the publications listed above.

In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoners and 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.

2. The falsification of the censorship document which was given to Mr. xxx. Mr. xxx was not notified of the censorship for reasons 19 and 20 on 11/19/15. As you can see in the enclosed Rejection Notices, the same file number and date are used on both forms.

3. The reasons cited, on either form, are not applicable to the book in question. The first form delivered simply makes no sense relative to the book. The second form is clearly a rejection for political reasons. There are a number of relevant precedents which have been set by the courts regarding the right for prisoners to receive political content through the mail. I have included a few citations below.

"The decision to censor or withhold delivery of a particular letter must be accompanied by minimum procedural safeguards against arbitrariness or error." Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800

"Wardens may not reject a publication 'solely because its content is religious, philosophical, political, social[,] sexual, or . . . unpopular or repugnant,' or establish an excluded list of publications, but must review each issue of a subscription separately." Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401

“When a prison regulation restricts a prisoner’s First Amendment right to free speech, it is valid only if it is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.” Lindell v. Frank, 377 F.3d 655, 657 (7th Cir. 2004), citing Turner v. Safely, 482 U.S. 78, 89 (1987).

"Prison authorities cannot rely on general or conclusory assertions to support their policies." Walker v. Sumner (9th Cir. 1990) 917 F.2d 382, 385

"Unsupported security claims couldn't justify infringement on First Amendment rights." Crofton v. Roe (9th Cir. 1999) 170 F.3d 957

4. The practice of holding publications and/or letters for an indefinite time without providing notice of any determination is certainly unconstitutional, as it does not satisfy the obligation that the prison administration has to provide both the sender and the recipient with a decision in a reasonable time and ultimately frustrates the right that both the sender and the prisoner have to appeal a negative determination. We mailed this book to Mr. xxx nearly six months ago. As of March 31, Mr. xxx has not received a determination from the Publication Review Committee on the disposition of this censorship.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,



CC: Affected parties
Publication Review Committee
C/O Department of Corrections Correspondence Unit
PO Box 41118
Olympia, WA 98504-1118

I am in receipt of your letter dated April 14, 2016 regarding books that are being denied into the facility.

The Coyote Ridge Corrections Center (CRCC) Mailroom is not holding the publication indefinitely without providing notice, a mail rejection was generated and sent to the offender and to the sender (MIM) as is evident with the attached exhibits A and B.

the publicaiton has been reviewed at the facility level and is now beign reviewed at the Headquarters level by their Review committee. Because it was not an E-Message it should not have been rejected as such. The request for the change of rejection reason was because rejection reason 19 and 20 better clarified why Mr. Guerrero initially rejected the publication and clarification was needed by the DOC review committee. The rejections reasons are stated below:

19. Advocates violence against others and/or the overthrow of authority.
20. Advocates that a protected class or group of individuals is inferior and/or makes such class/group the object of ridicule and/or scorn, and may reasonably be thought to precipitate a violent confrontation between the recipient and a member(s) of the target group.

Once a decision is made the offender will be notified. If the final decision is to reject the publication he has the right to an appeal.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey A. Uttecht, Superintendent
Coyote Ridge Corrections Center

Publication Review Committee
C/O Department of Corrections Correspondence Unit
PO Box 41118
Olympia, WA 98504-1118

June 25, 2016

RE: Ongoing illegal censorship of at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center

Dear Publication Review Committee,

On April 14, 2016, CC'ed your office on a letter to Superintendent Uttecht of Coyote Ridge Corrections Center. We did not receive a response from your office to this letter, even though it contained information directly pertaining to your office.

I am writing to you with three concerns.

1. What is the status of the censorship of the book Power and the Struggle for Aztlan? This book was mailed to Mr. xxx in October 2015. Superintendent Uttecht informed us that it is presently being reviewed by the Publication Review Committee. What is the status of this review?

2. There is ongoing illegal censorship at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center. In April 2016 we informed Superintendent Uttecht that we (MIM Distributors, the publisher and sender of this book) were not notified of the censorship of Power and the Struggle for Aztlan when it was censored by Coyote Ridge mailroom staff. Superintendent Uttecht's response was to write a letter saying the proof of notifiying the sender was attached, yet failed to enclose any attachments with his letter to us.

There was recently another similar incident at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center. A publication titled Under Lock & Key No. 50 (May/June 2016) was censored in this facility. The intended recipient was Mr. xxx. MIM Distributors was not notified by the facility mailroom that this newsletter was being censored. We only heard about it from the prisoner.

There are no doubt countless other incidents of censorship that were not carried out in line with constitutional and state law, or DOC procedures. Unfortunately since we are not being notified by the facility of these incidents, we have no way of knowing how many have occurred.

3. The reason cited for the censorship of Under Lock & Key No. 50 (May/June 2016) is unfounded and also an illegal reason for censorship. An intended recipient of this newsletter informed us, the sender, of the reason provided by CRCC mailroom staff for this censorship. The reason given was “Entire tone of paper seeks to gain opinions/actions against the criminal justice system. Encourages/uses derogatory remarks against law enforcement in statements such as 'pigs' and 'fuck the police' (Pages 4 & 8). This paper also calling for 'organized; strikes/movements against the prison system. Pages 17 & 18.” We apologize if this reason cited is inaccurate. Unfortunately it has been provided to us by a third party, since we were not notified of the censorship as I explained above.

As you can see, the “reasons” cited for censorship of Under Lock & Key No. 50 are vague and not directly related to the penological interests of the institution. We believe there is much relevant case law to support our claim that this publication is being censored for political reasons, in direct opposition to protections of the United States Constitution.

"Wardens may not reject a publication 'solely because its content is religious, philosophical, political, social[,] sexual, or . . . unpopular or repugnant,' or establish an excluded list of publications, but must review each issue of a subscription separately." Thornburgh v. Abbott, 490 U.S. 401

“When a prison regulation restricts a prisoner’s First Amendment right to free speech, it is valid only if it is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.” Lindell v. Frank, 377 F.3d 655, 657 (7th Cir. 2004), citing Turner v. Safely, 482 U.S. 78, 89 (1987).

"Prison authorities cannot rely on general or conclusory assertions to support their policies." Walker v. Sumner (9th Cir. 1990) 917 F.2d 382, 385

"Unsupported security claims couldn't justify infringement on First Amendment rights." Crofton v. Roe (9th Cir. 1999) 170 F.3d 957

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Bailey Clarke, Legal Assistant
MIM Distributors
PO Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140

CC: Affected parties
Superintendent: Jeffrey A. Uttecht
Coyote Ridge Corrections Center
1301 N Ephrata Ave
PO Box 769
Connell, WA 99326

Superintendent: Jeffrey A. Uttecht
Coyote Ridge Corrections Center
1301 N Ephrata Ave
PO Box 769
Connell, WA 99326

June 25, 2016

RE: Ongoing illegal censorship to xxx at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, no notification to sender

Dear Superintendent,

We received your letter from April 21, 2016. Thank you for your response.

One of our complaints from our April 14 letter was that the sender (MIM Distributors) was not notified of the censorship of the above named book to the above named prisoner. In your letter from April 21, you state “a mail rejection was generated and sent to the offender and to the sender (MIM) as is evident with the attached exhibits A and B.” Yet your letter did not include any attachments. We still contend that we never were sent a rejection notice from your facility.

Additionally, we were recently informed that Under Lock & Key No. 50 (May/June 2016) was censored at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center. Yet we have not received notification of this censorship. You were already made aware of this problem of lack of notification in our letter to you from April 2016. That your mailroom is still violating constitutional and state law, as well as your own department's policies, is grounds for filing a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 lawsuit.

Some facilities send their rejection notices via Certified Mail with the USPS. I would recommend to do this with your mail. Also someone should double-check your letters to ensure the attachments you intend to send in fact are included with your outgoing mail.

We look forward to your response and the remedy of this problem at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center.

Sincerely,

MIM Distributors
PO Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140

CC: Affected parties
Publication Review Committee
C/O Department of Corrections Correspondence Unit
PO Box 41118
Olympia, WA 98504-1118

F-11-334-15 of the book Power and the Struggle for Aztlan.

In response to your previous letter dated April 14, 2016 we informed you about the process for rejected publications, this publication is being reviewed at this time by the Publication Committee at Headquarters. The Coyote Ridge Corrections (CRCC) Mailroom mailed the book in for further review and are waiting for a final decision.

Once we receive the final decision from the Publication Committee we will either forward the publication to offender [x] or send him a notice with the denial of the publication and he will have 30 days from the date of the final decision to let the mailroom know how he would like to dispose of this publication.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey A. Uttecht, Superintendent
Coyote Ridge Corrections Center

I received your letter dated June 25, 2016 regarging Publication Mail Rejections for [x].

Publications, Power and the Struggle for Aztlan, and Under Lock & Key were both rejected for the following:

1. Contains plans for activity that violates state/federal law, the Washington Administrative Code, Department policy, and/or local facility rules.
2. Advocates violence against others and/or the overthrow of authority
3. Advocated that protected class or group of individuals is inferior and/or makes such class/group the object of ridicule and/or scorn, and may reasonably be thought to precipitate a violent confrontation between the recipient and a member(s) of the target group.

Publications that were rejected by the facility and upheld by the Publication Review Committee are appealable per DOC Policy 450.001. Offenders may submit their appeal through the facility mailroom sergeant. The appeal request will be forwarded to me through a pre-established process.

[x] was informed of both publication rejections and the Publication Review Committee's decision. If he wishes to appeal, he must follow the pre-established process listed above.

There are three minimum procedural protections for mail:
1. Notice of the rejection
2. A chance to appeal the rejection
3. Review of the appeal by someone other than the person who initiated the appeal

The above procedures have been ranted to [x]. The procedures we have in place satisfy the constitutional requirements; the minimum procedural protections have been met.

Sincerely,
Roy G...?[signature illegible]
Prisons Division
Correctional Manager

Before the official notice was sent to MIM Distributors, this subscriber received notification of the disapproval and filed an appeal. People at this prison recently staged a hunger strike and successfully negotiated to be able to receive the publications they want. But the struggle continues.

Director of Rehabilitative Programs and Services
North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Prisons
MSC 4221
Raleigh, NC 27699-4221

17 July 2016

RE: censorship of Under Lock & Key No. 50

Dear Sir/Madam,

This letter is in response to the Letter to Publisher, dated 5 July 2016, from Publication Review Committee Chair, Doug Pardue. It states that Under Lock Key issue 50 has been censored for “encourages insurrection and disorder” on p.8.

The article on page 8 discusses the history of the Black Panther Party and in particular its practice of patrolling the police in the Black community as a means of protecting people from potentially deadly interactions, a problem that continues to plague our society today. In no part of the analysis does it encourage insurrection or disorder within the institutions of the NCDPS. It promotes order in the oppressed communities.

As I reiterate with your office every two months, Under Lock & Key explicitly opposes prisoners taking up violence or insurrection in every issue. The continued claims that ULK promotes insurrection and disorder in every issue do not seem connected to the objectives of your department.

I am requesting that upon review of this incident that you will keep ULK 50 off of the list of banned publications, and deliver the copies that we have mailed to each subscriber held in your institutions.