MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
"H" - "Violence against any ethnic, racial or religious group or which reasonably appears likely to provoke or to precipitate a violent confrontation between the recipient or recipients or any other inamte in possession of same and a member or members...[Download Documentation]
Notice to Inmate of a Statewide Disapproved Publication (MT11 on MLDP) Download Documentation
03/13/2012
MIM Distributors appeals censorship
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Assistant Director of Support Services
North Carolina Department of Corrections
Division of Prisons
4260 MSC
Raleigh, NC, 27699-4260
March 13, 2012
RE: Censorship incident occurred at Foothills Correctional Institution ? exclusion of publications sent to prisoner XXX by MIM Distributors.
I am writing this letter about what seems to be a censorship incident that recently occurred at Foothills Correctional Institution in Morganton, North Carolina.
MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner a magazine titled MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial on two separate occasions: once on December 16, 2011 and again on February 7, 2012.
We recently learned from the prisoner (Mr.XXX) that he never received the publications listed above. On January 4, 2012 Mr. XXX received a Notice to Inmate of Disapproval & Appeal/Waiver Form for the first copy of the magazine. Mr. XXX appealed the censorship on January 5, 2012. In February 2012, Mr. XXX informed MIM Distributors that the publication was placed on the Master List of Disapproved Publications on January 23, 2012.
I am writing you this letter to inform you that MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of disapproval about this magazine at any stage in the process outlined above. Therefore we believe that putting MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial on the Master List of Disapproved Publications without first offering the publisher appeal rights is a violation of the United States Constitution, and your own Department's Policies.
Your Division of Prisons Policy D.0100 states at sections D.0103 and D.0107 that respectively prisoners and publishers have to be notified of negative determinations and entitles both the sender and the recipient to appeal rejections of publications.
The same Policy obligates your mailroom staff to come to a determination within 7 days from the arrival of the publication.
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 Mr. McCrae, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the censorship decision.
In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoner (Mr. McCrae) 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.
With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests
➢ to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of the above-named magazine
➢ and for the above-named magazine to be removed from the Master List of Disapproved Publications until an appeals process with all relevant parties involved can be carried out.
We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Bailey Clarke, Legal Assistant
MIM Distributors
P.O. Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140
Letter to Publisher, disapproved for delivery for reason I: intimates or sexually harass staff Download Documentation
03/20/2012
Letter from prisoner to MIM Distributors - appeal rights being denied
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My Under Lock & Key number 24 was turned down because they said it intimidates staff. They wouldn't even give me the paper to appeal the decision like they normally do because they know they only doing it because they can. With me bring on maximum security housing unit here I have no source to contact the outside world other than by pen and paper, and half the time that doesn't make it through. So let me know as soon as possible if you've received my letter. Thank you.
04/03/2012
MIM Distributors says no notification and no appeal rights is illegal
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Assistant Director of Support Services
North Carolina Department of Corrections
Division of Prisons
4260 MSC
Raleigh, NC, 27699-4260
April 3, 2012
RE: Censorship incident occurred at Scotland Correctional Institution ? exclusion of publication sent to prisoner XXX from MIM Distributors
Dear Assistant Director,
I am writing this letter about a censorship incident that recently occurred at Scotland Correctional Institution in Laurinburg, North Carolina.
MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner a newsletter titled Under Lock & Key No. 24 (January/February 2012). This newsletter was mailed via Standard Presorted Mail with the USPS on January 30, 2012.
We recently learned from the prisoner (Mr. XXX) that he never received the publication listed above. Mr. XXX informed us that he was told that the publication is rejected because it "intimated staff," but that he was not given any appeal rights. MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of censorship determination from your Department.
Your Division of Prisons Policy D.0100 states at sections D.0103 and D.0107 that prisoners and publishers have to be notified of negative determinations, and both the sender and recipient are entitled to appeal rejections of publications. The same Policy obligates your mailroom staff to come to a determination within 7 days from the arrival of the publication.
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 Mr. McCrae, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the censorship decision.
In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoner (Mr. XXX) 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.
With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests:
1. to know what determination has been made regarding 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 adequate notice and appeal rights be offered to the prisoner and MIM Distributors for any future negative determinations on incoming mail.
We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.
Letter to prisoner: ULK 22 added to Master List of Disapproved Publications
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Your publication/material MIM Distributors, Under Lock & Key, Sept/Oct 2011, No. 22, is on the Master List of Disapproved Publications list of the Division of Prisons. The publication/material violates Division of Prison policy at section D.0 109 and is disapproved for the reason listed.
...
There are no additional appeal rights to this decision.
...
Reason .0 109 I Materials which are used or which reasonably appear likely to be used to intimidate or sexually harass facility staff or visitors.
Reason for Disapproval: Contains information which may intimidate staff.
Placed on Master List of Disapproved Publications
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Prisoner states "as on Jan 23, 2012 has been placed on the master ban list statewide. However, this time around they changed the reasons for disapproval from "advocates armed overthrow of U.S. government" to "describes and encourages disruption of operations." This shows that they were seeking ANY reason to disapprove and permanently ban this publication."
01/23/2012
Letter to Publisher saying MIM Theory 11 was censored - .0109D "violence, disorder, insurrection..." Download Documentation
03/13/2012
MIM Distributors appeals censorship
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Assistant Director of Support Services
North Carolina Department of Corrections
Division of Prisons
4260 MSC
Raleigh, NC, 27699-4260
March 13, 2012
RE: Censorship incident occurred at Foothills Correctional Institution ? exclusion of publications sent to prisoner XXX by MIM Distributors.
I am writing this letter about what seems to be a censorship incident that recently occurred at Foothills Correctional Institution in Morganton, North Carolina.
MIM Distributors sent the above mentioned prisoner a magazine titled MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial on two separate occasions: once on December 16, 2011 and again on February 7, 2012.
We recently learned from the prisoner (Mr. XXX) that he never received the publications listed above. On January 4, 2012 Mr. XXX received a Notice to Inmate of Disapproval & Appeal/Waiver Form for the first copy of the magazine. Mr. XXX appealed the censorship on January 5, 2012. In February 2012, Mr. XXX informed MIM Distributors that the publication was placed on the Master List of Disapproved Publications on January 23, 2012.
I am writing you this letter to inform you that MIM Distributors did not receive any notice of disapproval about this magazine at any stage in the process outlined above. Therefore we believe that putting MIM Theory 11: Amerikkkan Prisons on Trial on the Master List of Disapproved Publications without first offering the publisher appeal rights is a violation of the United States Constitution, and your own Department's Policies.
Your Division of Prisons Policy D.0100 states at sections D.0103 and D.0107 that respectively prisoners and publishers have to be notified of negative determinations and entitles both the sender and the recipient to appeal rejections of publications.
The same Policy obligates your mailroom staff to come to a determination within 7 days from the arrival of the publication.
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 Mr. McCrae, nor MIM Distributors were notified of the censorship decision.
In refusing to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to both the prisoner (Mr. McCrae) 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.
With the present letter, MIM Distributors requests
➢ to be offered a chance to appeal the exclusion of the above-named magazine
➢ and for the above-named magazine to be removed from the Master List of Disapproved Publications until an appeals process with all relevant parties involved can be carried out.
We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
MIM Distributors
P.O. Box 40799
San Francisco, CA 94140
Page 4, Reason I: Materials which are used or reasonably appear likely to be used to intimidate or sexually harass facility staff or visitors.[Download Documentation]
This letter is a follow-up letter to the one I sent you on November 20, 2010, to which you gave no response. I have included a copy of the November 2010 letter with this letter for your reference. The main complaint made in the November 2010 letter was regarding the improper handling of mail at Foothills Correctional Institution, which is an ongoing problem; a problem that you have a legal obligation to address.
The more recent mishandling of mail at Foodhills CI is regarding the correspondence between MIM Distributors and Mr. XXX, a prisoner held at Foothills CI. Two items in particular have been denied delivery by Foothills CI mailroom staff without proper legal safeguards. You were made aware of these legal safeguards in my November 2010 letter.
In July 2011, MIM Distributors mailed Mr. XXX a book titled "The CIA's Greatest Hits." Neither Mr. XXX nor MIM Distributors were notified that this book was denied delivery. Needless to say, neither party was offered a chance to appeal the decision.
In October 2011, MIM Distributors mailed Mr. XXX a magazine titled "MIM Theory 9: Psychology." MIM Distributors was not notified that this book was to be denied delivery to its intended recipient, and was not given an chance to appeal this decision.
As I outlined in my November 2010 letter to you, it is United States law that the sender and prisoner must be notified if an item of mail is being censored by prison administrators or staff (Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S.396. 94 S.Ct 1800, and Montcalm Publ'g Corp. v. Beck, 80 F.3d 105, 106 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 928 (1996)).
With this letter we have two requests. First, we request an immediate end to the illegal practice by Foothills CI mailroom staff which effectively obstructs the First Amendment rights of both MIM Distributors and Mr. XXX. Second, we would like to request a review of, and to appeal the decision to censor "The CIA's Greatest Hits" and "MIM Theory 9: Psychology" by someone other than the original censor. We do not believe that denial of delivery of these items would stand up to the reasonableness test as laid out in Turner v. Safely 482 U.S. 78 (1987).
Please look into this issue, as this censorship is clearly illegal. We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
MIM Distributors
CC: Affected parties
12/18/2011
Prisoner receives magazine!
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Good news: MIM Theory, Number 9, 1995 was approved and was returned to my possession. I appealed it and I won!
02/02/2012
Assistant Director responds to 12/7/11 letter regarding several issues Download Documentation
Letter to Publisher: Page 2 violates reason D, violence, disorder, etc.
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To the Publisher:
This letter is to advise you that the following issue(s) of publication(s) sent to an inmate of the North Carolina Department of Correction, Division of Prisons, has been disapproved for delivery to the inmate.
Under Lock & Key, November/December 2011, No. 23 (Page 2)
This action was taken for the following reason: D. Violence, disorder, insurrection or terrorist/gang activities against individuals, groups, organizations, the government or any of its' institutions.
These issues contain material which violates North Carolina Division of Prisons policy D.0100, Publications Received/Possessed by Inmates. This material could be detrimental to the security and good order of the prison facility and the rehabilitation of inmates and is disapproved for the reason(s) indicated. . .
MIM Distributors says Master List is unconstitutional
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Assistant Director of Support Services
North Carolina Department of Corrections
Division of Prisons
4260 MSC
Raleigh, NC, 27699-4260
January 24, 2012
RE: censorship of Under Lock & Key issue no. 23 ? prisoner XXX - Scotland Correctional Institution.
1. Background.
We recently received from prisoner XXX, currently held at Scotland Correctional Institution, a ?notice to inmate of a statewide disapproved publication? (attachment #2), with which K. Stanback informs the prisoner that issue no. 22 of our publication titled Under Lock & Key appears on the Master List of Disapproved Publications of the NC Division of Prisons. Therefore, states the notice, the publication is rejected and ?there are no additional appeal rights to this decision?.
We also received a letter from another prisoner held at Scotland Correctional Institution as well (CCC), stating that in the last four months he hasn?t received any issues of Under Lock & Key because the publication has allegedly been put on the Master List of Disapproved Publications.
It is important to note that MIM Distributors has never received from your Division of Prisons any notices or other letters regarding the inclusion of any of its publications in the Master List of Disapproved Publications.
At this juncture, therefore, it is hard for us to understand whether any of our publications is in fact on the list of disapproved publications, which issues are on the list, for what reasons, and since when.
2. The determination is illegitimate and unconstitutional.
The above determination of Ms. Stanback is illegitimate and unconstitutional for many reasons and under several aspects. It violates both principles laid down by the U.S. Supreme Court and rules established in your own policies, namely in policy D.0100 adopted by your Division on 09/24/2010, regulating publications received by prisoners.
As already noted, MIM Distributors has never received any notice about the inclusion of issue no. 22 (or any other issue) in the Master List of Disapproved Publications. As you are responsible to know, section 0107 of your policy D.0100 requires that ?When pursuant to law the Division of Prisons rejects a publication mailed to an inmate, the publisher shall be notified in writing of the reason for rejection and the procedure to follow to appeal the rejection, including the responsibility of the publisher to submit a written appeal.?
If issue no. 22 of Under Lock & Key is actually on the Master List of Disapproved Publications by virtue of a previous decision, that decision (and the new one we?re discussing here) would be illegitimate and unconstitutional because it has never been notified to the publisher. The determination we?re discussing here would be illegitimate as well, as it would entirely rely on a previous illegitimate determination.
In sum, the above rule (section 0107 of policy D 0100) would have been violated twice by Ms. Stanback, who has presumably sent the mentioned notices only to the prisoners.
If issue no. 22 of Under Lock & Key wasn?t on the Master List of Disapproved Publications at the moment Ms. Stanback rejected it for prisoner XXX, then the determination would also be in contradiction with Section .0105 of the same policy, which specifies that ?The Master List does not ban the publication title but only those volumes, issues or editions that have been reviewed and rejected.?
In either case, therefore, the most recent negative determination of Ms. Stanback appears to be illegitimate for it clearly conflicts with the above rules included in your own policies.
3. The NC Division of Prisons Policy D.0100 is unconstitutional as it violates due process rights of prisoners and publishers.
Furthermore, section D.0105 of your policy no. D.0100 is certainly unconstitutional, inasmuch as it does not afford the publisher and the prisoner the right to appeal a negative determination whenever the rejected publication already appears on the Master List of Disapproved Publications.
The U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear 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)).
The right that both the publisher and the prisoner have to appeal negative determinations may not be abridged only because the publication is allegedly on a list of disapproved publications. These protections evidently are the typical due process safeguards, which substantiate any other constitutional right and afford individuals a chance to appeal governmental decisions that affect their fundamental rights, among which the most cherished certainly are First Amendment rights.
In light of the these considerations, thus, there is very little doubt that decisions that affect publishers? First Amendment rights in the prison context must be accompanied by the typical due process safeguards, i.e. by procedural mechanisms that offer the publisher the opportunity to contest and fight the decision to exclude its materials.
The fact that the rejected publication may appear on a list of previously disapproved publications does not constitute a valid reason to deprive the prisoner and the publisher of the right to appeal the censorship determination. Both the prisoner and the publisher may not have had an opportunity to appeal the previous decision that initially included the publication in the list, just like it happened in the present case. Depriving them of the right to appeal the new censorship determination means nothing less than completely abridging those fundamental due process safeguards whose pivotal role in the prison mail censorship system the Supreme Court has so clearly stated.
It is very clear indeed that every single negative decision made by prison administrators must be accompanied by the above safeguards, regardless of the existence of a previous negative determination regarding the same publication. Even the same prisoner or publisher may have developed new arguments to submit while appealing the decision and therefore they may not be deprived of their right to fight the censorship decision.
4. Establishing a list of disapproved publications is unconstitutional, too.
Your policy D.0100 is also unconstitutional for the very fact that it establishes a list of disapproved publications. The Supreme Court has already struck down similar bans across the country and has flatly stated since 1989 that "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 (1989).
Nor does the temporary nature of the inclusion of a publication in the list exclude its unconstitutionality. What the Supreme Court is trying to avoid is any automatic mechanism by which prison administrators may avoid the obligation to review each publication or issue separately. Here, the inclusion of a publication in the Master List of Disapproved Publications determines precisely the mechanism that the Supreme Court has addressed as illegitimate, as prison administrators may reject the publication (although for a period of 12 months) without reviewing it.
Based on the above considerations, we request that:
1) the censorship determination to include Under Lock & Key no. 23 on the MLDP be reversed;
2) the publication be allowed to the above prisoners;
3) the practice of including publications in the Master List of Disapproved Publication be discontinued;
4) the previously included issues be separately reviewed regardless of the inclusion;
5) your policy D.0100 be amended to accurately reflect United States law.
We appreciate your assistance in this matter and look forward to your response.