https://themilitant.com/2019/05/04/join-the-fight-to-overturn-florida-prison-censorship-of-the-militant/
Join the fight to overturn Florida prison censorship of the ‘Militant’
By Seth Galinsky
Vol. 83/No. 19
May 13, 2019
After months of noninterference, Florida prison authorities have banned
three issues of the Militant since April 12, violating the
constitutional rights of both the socialist newsweekly and its readers
behind bars.
The jailers falsely charged that each of the issues “encourages
activities which may lead to the use of physical violence or group
disruption” or “otherwise presents a threat to the security, good order,
or discipline” of the prison.
For issue no. 12, they cite an article on protests against the acquittal
of the cop who shot and killed 22-year-old Stephon Clark in Sacramento,
California, last March. For issue no. 15 they point to an article about
the speaking tour of Albert Woodfox, who spent nearly 44 years in
solitary confinement in the notorious Angola, Louisiana, prison.
Woodfox chuckled when he learned that the article reporting on his
meetings in New York presenting his new book was banned, and the reason
given. “I’ve never preached violence,” he said by phone April 23. “The
violence always came from the prison administration and guards trying to
stop us from organizing and exposing what was going on.”
On issue 17 which articles upset prison officials is unclear. The front
page has articles on protests in Sudan, on protests for amnesty for
immigrants in the U.S., a strike by Stop & Shop workers in New England,
a successful fight to overturn a ban on used books in Washington state
prisons and gains won in the fight against racism by the Cuban Revolution.
One prisoner wrote us to say he is filing an appeal to get the ban
overturned. “The prison system fears what the Militant is exposing about
the government as well as the prison system in America,” he wrote.
Last year, Florida authorities banned seven issues in just one 10-week
stretch. After the Militant won support for its fight against the bans
from the National Coalition Against Censorship, the American Civil
Liberties Union of Florida, PEN America, Amnesty International and other
organizations, prison authorities backed down. Almost all the bans were
overturned.
Join fight against press censorshipBut at least one prisoner in Florida
informed the Militant that he has not received a single issue of the
paper for months.
The Militant’s lawyer, David Goldstein, has filed a notice of appeal.
The Militant is calling on its supporters everywhere to get union
activists and officials, coworkers, church groups, civil liberties
organizations, student clubs and others to send letters opposing this
latest round of unconstitutional censorship.
“The more they censor and block the Militant,” Militant editor John
Studer said April 30, “the more respect we earn from those who are
incarcerated.
“Prisoners deserve respect and dignity. We see prisoners as fellow
workers who have the right to read material of their choosing and to
form their own opinions, to be part of politics and the world,” Studer
said. “And they know that we won’t back down defending both their rights
and our own.”
In This Issue
Front Page Articles •US hands off Venezuela! US hands off Cuba!
•NY Workers Memorial Day: No one needs to die on the job
•May 1 actions demand driver’s licenses, amnesty for immigrants
•Join the fight to overturn Florida prison censorship of the ‘Militant’
•As Beijing and Washington talk trade deal, rivalry deepens
Feature Articles •Kurdistan union leader: Workers faced years of
tyranny, war
Also In This Issue •US hands off Venezuela! Hands off Cuba!
•Speakout protests Beijing’s repression of Uighur people
•New Zealand picket defends women’s right to abortion
•‘Fight for workers control on the job’
•Campaign to expand reach of ‘Militant,’ books, fund (week three)
•The ‘Militant’ has always been financed by its readers
•Albert Woodfox tours against solitary, prison officials’ abuse
•Philadelphia rally demands new trial for Abu-Jamal
•Uber drivers call strike May 8 over pay cuts, work conditions
•Denounce Jew-hatred, a threat to all workers
•NY mass honors construction workers killed on the job
© Copyright 2019 The Militant - 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor - New
York, NY 10018 - themilitant@xxxxxx
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David Hume
“ In our reasonings concerning matter of fact, there are all imaginable degrees
of assurance, from the highest certainty to the lowest species of moral
evidence. A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence. ”
― David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
