https://themilitant.com/2018/09/22/militant-wins-a-round-fight-against-prison-censors-goes-on/
‘Militant’ wins a round, fight against prison censors goes on
By Seth Galinsky
Vol. 82/No. 36
October 1, 2018
The Florida Department of Corrections overturned the impoundment of
issue no. 29 of the Militant Sept. 12. The department’s Literature
Review Committee also recently overturned the ban on five other issues
of the paper. These are victories for all those who defend the right of
free speech and the press and for the rights of workers behind bars.
At the same meeting the committee decided not to reverse Florida State
Prison officials’ decision to impound issue no. 25. They declined to
give any explanation.
In the last year and a half, Florida officials have banned at least 18
issues of the paper, but then overturned the ban on all but a few after
the Militant protested. Amnesty International, PEN America, the National
Lawyers Guild, chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union, church
groups and others have often joined in demanding reversal of the bans.
The only thing the bans have in common is they are “arbitrary,
irrational, inconsistent, unlawful, and unconstitutional,” in the words
of Militant attorney David Goldstein from the well-known law firm
Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman.
Every impoundment notice so far has falsely claimed that the paper
“presents a threat to the security, good order, or discipline” of the
prison. Some point to specific articles prison authorities don’t like,
others give no reason. What they really don’t like is the politics of
the Militant, which point a road forward for workers — inside and
outside the propertied rulers’ prisons — in the face of the crisis of
capitalism.
There is no difference in the politics of issue no. 25 and no. 29. Issue
no. 25 had front page articles on the fight for amnesty for all
immigrants in the U.S., protests against the police killing of Antwon
Rose in Pittsburgh, U.N. hearings on Puerto Rico’s struggle for
independence, the Socialist Workers Party-sponsored Active Workers
Conference in Oberlin, Ohio, an article on the fight against previous
prison censorship in Florida, and an editorial explaining why workers
should oppose the call by some liberals to harass supporters of Donald
Trump.
Issue no. 29 was banned, Tomoka Correctional Institution authorities
said, because of “Page 1-3.” The articles on these pages reported on
protests against a killing by cops in Chicago, the launching of the
Socialist Workers Party 2018 election campaigns, protests and political
developments in Iraq, and an article on openings for the working class
as the imperialist “world order” unravels. This issue didn’t have any
coverage of the Militant’s fight against prison censorship, but numerous
previous issues did and were either not banned or their bans were
overturned.
The Militant was totally banned, in violation of federal regulations, by
prison officials at the Federal Correctional Institution in Greenville,
Illinois, in June.
The reason? It is “associated with the Socialist Workers Party and
encourages change by protesting and striking.”
The decision was sent back for further review in August by Federal
Bureau of Prisons Regional Director Sara Revell, but the Militant hasn’t
heard anything since. Goldstein wrote Revell Sept. 14 asking where
things stand.
‘Militant’ wins a round, fight against prison censors goes on“As the
class struggle heats up, we will see more attempts by prison officials
to cut workers behind bars off from the world,” Militant editor John
Studer said Sept. 17. “In Pennsylvania right now government and prison
authorities are restricting prisoners’ access to books and periodicals
across the board.
“That’s why the fights against censorship of the Militant are so
important,” Studer said. “They are part of the broader fight to defend
critically needed political rights today and help to break down barriers
among workers. These are rights won in the Constitution and defended in
blood by working people over decades.
“We encourage all those who back the Militant’s fight against censorship
to keep up the pressure,” he said, “and to join with those opposing the
unconstitutional restrictions on books, periodicals and letters in
Pennsylvania.”
Related Articles
Pa. prison authorities curb letters, books, newspapers
Pennsylvania prison officials and liberal Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf
announced new rules and regulations Sept. 5 that severely restrict
prisoners’ access to books, magazines, newspapers, photos and letters.
The Department of Corrections imposed the rules — and a 12-day lockdown…
In This Issue
Front Page Articles •Iraq protests shake up moves to form new gov’t
•‘Militant’ wins a round, fight against prison censors goes on
•‘We need to get a union into the place where I work’
•Protests in Dallas demand cop who killed Botham Jean be fired
•Are frenzied liberals afflicted with ‘Trump derangement syndrome’?
Feature Articles •Social catastrophe from storms are a product of
capitalist rule
Also In This Issue •Great Russian artists of 19th century and 1917
Bolshevik Revolution
•Pa. prison authorities curb letters, books, newspapers
•Colo. meatpackers win suit against right to pray firings
•Manila book fair draws over 100,000 participants
Editorials •Join and build the Socialist Workers Party 2018 campaign
On the Picket Line •SF hotel workers rally, say ‘One job should be enough’
•Striking hotel workers in Chicago rally for yearlong health care
•Industrial glass strikers in Montreal win solidarity
Books of the Month •Imperialism pauses only when it faces a people ready
to fight
25, 50 and 75 years ago
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