https://themilitant.com/2019/08/03/florida-prison-officials-ban-on-militant-attacks-bill-of-rights/
Florida prison officials??? ban on ???Militant??? attacks Bill of Rights
??By Seth Galinsky
Vol. 83/No. 29
August 12, 2019
With the impoundment of issue no. 26 of the Militant, Florida prison
officials have now censored 10 of the last 12 issues of the paper. The
last six were all banned for featuring articles about the authorities???
previous censorship! The prison system???s Literature Review Committee has
upheld all but one of the seven bans it has reviewed so far.
All of the impoundment notices falsely assert that the articles present
???a threat to the security, good order or discipline of the correctional
system.???
The Militant has sent the paper to its subscribers behind bars in
Florida for decades. From 2012 to 2016, prison wardens only impounded
four issues of the paper. All of those bans were overturned by the
Literature Review Committee.
From 2017 to 2018 some 21 issues of the paper were impounded; almost
all the bans were overturned.
???Nothing in our political viewpoint or coverage can justify violating
our rights and the rights of our subscribers,??? Militant editor John
Studer said in a July 30 interview. ???Whatever side of the prison walls
workers find themselves, they have the same need to read books and
newspapers of their choosing, to educate themselves, to know what???s
going on in the world, to think for themselves.???
The first ban this year upheld by the Literature Review Committee
featured an article on Albert Woodfox, who spent over 40 years in
solitary confinement at Angola state penitentiary in Louisiana. The
banned issue covered Woodfox???s New York tour, including a speech at the
Brooklyn Public Library and one at the Fortune Society, a
government-funded program that aids former prisoners getting jobs and
housing.
In his appeal of the bans on issues no. 24 and 25, the Militant???s
lawyer, David Goldstein, notes that ???it has become obvious??? that the
Florida Department of Corrections is ???redoubling its efforts to ban the
Militant from its subscribers??? behind bars in Florida.
Goldstein points out that Kansas prison officials had banned the
Militant along with 7,000 other publications. After reviewing all of the
banned issues of the paper, including many of the same ones that have
been banned in Florida, the Kansas Department of Corrections concluded
that not one of the papers presented ???a direct threat??? to the prison
system and lifted all the bans.
The Militant is not the only paper that includes coverage on prison
abuse, solitary confinement and related issues. Goldstein notes that the
Miami Herald ran a whole series on abuse in Florida prisons from 2012 to
June 2019. But only one issue was banned, and it was not one of the
issues with the articles on prison abuse.
???Absolutely nothing in these [Militant] articles could rationally be
found to depict, describe or encourage activities which may lead to the
use of physical violence or that otherwise presents a threat to the
security??? of the prison system or any individual, Goldstein notes.
The only conclusion, he says, is that Florida prison officials ???ban the
Militant??? because of ???its political views.???
Amnesty International USA, the National Coalition Against Censorship,
the National Lawyers Guild, the American Civil Liberties Union ???
Florida, WeCount! the Prison Ministry at the Riverside Church in New
York and others have sent letters to the Florida Literature Review
Committee, calling on it to overturn bans on the Militant.
In its letter the Prison Ministry of the Riverside Church writes, ???Each
confiscation represents an assault on the United States Constitution and
on all those who care about freedom of thought, inquiry and expression.???
More letters are needed! See the box below for how you can strengthen
the fight against prison censorship.
In This Issue
Front Page Articles ???Colonial rule, capitalist crisis fueled Puerto Rico
protests
???Airline, auto bosses target workers to boost profits
??????Amnesty for immigrants is in interest of all workers???
??????Cuban people will resist US embargo and violations of our sovereignty???
???Democrats??? Mueller expos?? falls flat as clashes in party sharpen
???Florida prison officials??? ban on ???Militant??? attacks Bill of Rights
Feature Articles ???Yazidis in Iraq still displaced two years after
Islamic State???s defeat
Also In This Issue ???Joyce Meissenheimer was ???on right side of history???
???US gov???t plans to restart death penalty, target workers
???Black lung at highest rate in decades among miners
???Ohio college posts bond over ???racism??? smear of bakery owners
Editorials ???Cuban Revolution shows workers can win
Books of the Month ???How capitalism is revolutionizing parts of Africa
25, 50 and 75 years ago
?? Copyright 2019 The Militant?? -?? 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor -?? New
York, NY 10018?? -?? themilitant@xxxxxxx
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George Carlin
??? Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe,
and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they
have to touch it to be sure. ???
??? George Carlin