https://themilitant.com/2019/04/20/fight-against-ban-on-washington-prisoners-getting-used-books-wins/
Fight against ban on Washington prisoners getting used books wins
By Edwin Fruit
Vol. 83/No. 17
April 29, 2019
SEATTLE — After a public outcry, the Washington state Department of
Corrections reversed severe restrictions they had adopted that blocked
prisoners from receiving almost all used books.
The ban, quietly posted on the department’s website, said that effective
March 25 prisoners could only receive used books through the Washington
State Library or, in the case of prisoners who had been accepted into
correspondence courses, books that came through the correspondence
schools’ official bookstores.
Corrections Department officials claimed there were 17 instances where
“contraband,” including drugs, was found hidden inside books. But after
the Seattle Times investigated, the department had to admit that the
allegations weren’t true.
The imposition of Washington state’s restrictions are part of a national
push by state prison officials taking steps to curtail the right of
workers behind bars to read books, magazines and newspapers. Many have
been beaten back when they became public.
Books to Prisoners, which donates thousands of books to prisoners in
Washington and across the country, only found out about the policy there
after books it had sent were suddenly being rejected by prison
officials. They began checking to find out why.
In his memo overturning the ban, Rob Herzog, Washington assistant
secretary of prisons, had to say, “The data does not support continuing
restriction on donated used books.” In other words, the charge that
drugs and other items were being smuggled into the prisons through used
books is not true.
“Effective immediately all prisons will allow books to be donated to the
facility” if they come from one of the four organizations on the
Corrections Department’s approved list, which includes both Books to
Prisoners and Books Through Bars.
“The fight against book bans in prisons and jails across the country is
a frustratingly chronic issue,” Michelle Dillon, a board member for
Books to Prisoners, told the Militant April 14.
In Pennsylvania, prison officials, like Washington state officials, used
the pretext of drug smuggling attempts to require prisoners to get
approval for every book and periodical they wanted to order — new or
used. Officials were forced to relent, but books and magazines still
have to be sent to be “processed” at a special facility before being
sent on to prisoners, meaning delays.
Similar bans on books have been beaten back in New York, Maryland, New
Jersey and in federal prisons. The Militant has successfully challenged
attempts to ban the paper at prisons in Florida, Washington state, New
York and other places.
PEN America and the National Coalition Against Censorship joined Books
for Prisoners and other groups in calling for the Washington ban to be
overturned.
“Even before this issue with the Washington Department of Corrections
was resolved, we became aware of a new ban at the jail in Chatham
County, Georgia,” Dillon told the Militant.
Sheriff John Wilcher instituted a new policy there that says inmates at
the county jail in Savannah can no longer receive books or magazines
from outside the prison. They are only allowed to select reading
materials from book carts managed by jail staff.
“We have never before encountered a policy that so completely restricts
detained persons’ access to books and publications,” said a letter
urging the sheriff to rescind the ban, signed by David Fathi, director
of the American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project, and
attorneys from the ACLU of Georgia.
“Prisoners need to have the right to read books, newspapers and other
material of their own choosing, to think for themselves, to be part of
the world,” John Studer, editor of the Militant, said April 15. “They
are part of the working class and its efforts to transform ourselves and
fight against attacks from the bosses and their government.
“We know that the attempts by government officials to censor what
prisoners read will continue,” Studer said. “But the key thing the
victory in Washington state shows, is that when those who defend the
rights of prisoners speak out, we can push back those attempts. Let’s
use that victory to join together to push back the censors in Chatham
County.”
In This Issue
Front Page Articles •New England Stop & Shop workers strike against cuts
•Legislators in Texas push to make every abortion illegal
•Protesters in Sudan say: ‘The regime must fall!’
•SWP campaign builds May 1 actions, demands amnesty for all immigrants
•Fight against ban on Washington prisoners getting used books wins
•Cuban Revolution ‘put workers in the best position to take on racism’
Feature Articles •Today’s fighters can learn from Algeria’s 1962-65
revolution
Also In This Issue •Quebec protests hit gov’t ban on wearing religious
symbols on job
•‘Why do workers face so many problems today?’
•Quebec taxi, Uber drivers need union to fight boss, gov’t attacks
•66-year South Korean ban on abortion ruled unconstitutional
•Defend a woman’s right to abortion!
•Campaign to expand reach of ‘Militant,’ books, fund (week one)
On the Picket Line •Toronto teachers, students protest education cuts
•Autoworkers in Russia start ‘work to rule’ against layoffs
Books of the Month •New battalions of working-class fighters in
formation in China
25, 50 and 75 years ago
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Christopher Hitchens
“ What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
”
― Christopher Hitchens,