![]() 78 (1987).īeginning with Turner, courts have upheld prison rules and regulations that impinge on a prisoner’s constitutional rights so long as they are “reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.” The Turner standard is based on a four-prong test:ġ. 396 (1974).Ĭrucial to that need for self-improvement is the ability to read and study, to thereby learn new ideas and ways of thinking – and thus behaving.Īs a result, federal courts have found that incarceration does not automatically deprive prisoners of the First Amendment’s protection from policies that abridge the freedom of speech, though such rights may be restricted. If anything, the needs for identity and self-respect are more compelling in the dehumanizing prison environment.” See: Procunier v. Writing for the majority that same year, Justice Thurgood Marshall stated, “when the prison gates slam behind an inmate, he does not lose his human quality his mind does not become closed to ideas his intellect does not cease to feed on a free and open interchange of opinions his yearning for self-respect does not end nor is his quest for self-realization concluded. In 1974, the Supreme Court affirmed “here is no iron curtain drawn between the Constitution and the prisons of this country.” See: Wolff v. Prison Legal News remains the most censored publication in the United States. Supreme Court, appealing a ruling by the Eleventh Circuit that upheld a long-standing statewide ban on PLN by the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC). HRDC and PLN have a decades-long history of bringing First Amendment suits challenging censorship by prison and jail officials nationwide.Īnd in September 2018, HRDC filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. (MTC), a private prison firm that runs the Otero County Prison Facility in New Mexico and the North Central Correctional Complex in Ohio.Īmong other cases this year, HRDC has also filed censorship lawsuits against jails in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina and Forrest County, Mississippi, and against the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority. Another settlement was reached that year in a lawsuit brought by HRDC against Management and Training Corp. HRDC had already reached a settlement in 2017 in a similar case against Bernalillo County, which includes Albuquerque. HRDC filed a similar complaint in April 2018 against Santa Fe County, New Mexico, when officials rejected books sent to prisoners at the county jail. ![]() In February 2018, the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) – the parent organization and publisher of Prison Legal News – filed suit against the Illinois Department of Corrections after prison officials refused to allow prisoners access to the publication and the news it contains about the criminal justice system. Yet restrictions on books and magazines have become commonplace in prisons and jails. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit wrote, “The simple opportunity to read a book or write a letter, whether it expresses political views or absent affections, supplies a vital link between the inmate and the outside world, and nourishes the prisoner’s mind despite the blankness and bleakness of his environment.” See: Wolfish v. In addition to the many other privations prisoners experience, they are often subjected to censorship of books, magazines and even correspondence by prison officials. Federal Bureau of Prisons, 415 F.3d 634 (7th Cir. Supreme Court noted the First Amendment is “remised on mistrust of governmental power.” The Court has also held that such mistrust extends to bans on books and other reading materials, since “freedom of speech is not merely freedom to speak it is also freedom to read.” See: King v. 310 (2010) – which held political campaign spending is a form of protected speech – the U.S. In its landmark ruling in Citizens United v. One of them is not reading them.” - Ray Bradbury ![]() “There are worse crimes than burning books. Share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on G+ Share with email
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