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Vol. 82/No. 4 January 29, 2018
Victories scored against NY, NJ prison book bans
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
Authorities have been implementing a pilot program at several state
prisons in New York that severely limits access to books prisoners or
their friends and families can order for them to read. As more facts
about it have come to light and condemnations mounted, Gov. Andrew Cuomo
tweeted Jan. 12, “I am directing the Dept. of Corrections to rescind its
flawed pilot program that restricted shipment of books & care packages
to inmates.”
At the same time, after protests by the American Civil Liberties Union
and others, New Jersey state officials were forced Jan. 8 to revoke a
ban they had placed on The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age
of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. The title had been banned at
New Jersey State Prison in Trenton and Southern State Correctional
Facility in Delmont.
In New York, a test Secure Vendors Program was put in place Dec. 4 at
the Greene, Green Haven, and Taconic prisons that severely restricts the
availability of books. Anyone who wants to order a book for a prisoner
has to choose from only six vendors — E-Ford Commissary, Access
Securepak, Union Supply Group, Jack L. Marcus Company, Walkenhorst, and
Music by Mail. Shipments of new and used books from other mail catalogs
or online retailers are barred. Officials planned to expand the program
statewide in September.
The approved vendors offer a combined selection of just 77 books: “five
romance novels, 14 religious texts, 24 drawing or coloring books, 21
puzzle books, 11 how-to books, one dictionary and one thesaurus,”
reports Addy Baird of the ThinkProgress news website.
The Department of Correctional and Community Services claims the measure
will “enhance the safety and security of correctional facilities.”
Supporters of prisoners’ rights fought to overturn the decision. Gov.
Cuomo’s announcement “is welcome news not only for incarcerated
individuals in New York State and their families,” PEN America, which
advocates for writers and readers worldwide, said in a Jan. 12 press
release, “but for all those who are concerned about the right to read.”
“This draconian restriction closes off so much of the world to thousands
of people,” NYC Books Through Bars, which sends free books to prisoners
in dozens of states, said in a letter to Gov. Cuomo.
In New Jersey Jan. 8 state prison authorities said they were lifting the
ban on The New Jim Crow at all state institutions. They also said they
would review their overall policy under which other books are still
prohibited.
“The ban on The New Jim Crow violates the right to free speech enshrined
in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” the ACLU said in a
letter delivered to Department of Corrections Commissioner Gary Lanigan
earlier that day.
Noting that African-Americans disproportionately fill New Jersey
prisons, the ACLU wrote, “For the state burdened with this systemic
injustice to prohibit prisoners from reading a book about race and mass
incarceration is grossly ironic, misguided and harmful.”
The victories in New York and New Jersey — as well as the Militant’s
victory overturning the impoundment of an issue in Florida state prisons
(see article on front page) — are good precedents for the ongoing fight
to allow prisoners to join in today’s political discussions and debates.
Related articles:
‘Militant’ wins overturn of Florida prison ban — again
Pussy Riot speaks out about fight against prison conditions in Russia
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