Vol. 80/No. 44 November 21, 2016
‘Militant’ appeals censorship: ‘Rights do not end where prison walls begin’
The Attica Correctional Facility Media Review Committee claimed that articles in the issue “incite rebellion against government authority.” The committee’s “Inmate Disposition Notice” doesn’t say which articles it considers “offensive.” The two pages it cites include a feature on the anniversary of the 1971 Attica prison rebellion, an excerpt from a declaration by prisoners there at that time, and an article on current protests in some prisons around the country demanding better conditions.
“No reasonable, fair minded reading” could conclude that any of the articles advocate “rebellion against government authority” or present “a clear and immediate risk” of rebellion, said Goldstein, who is with the law firm of Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman — known for its involvement in civil rights and liberties cases.
Goldstein, in the Nov. 3 appeal, notes that the Militant “was not alone in covering the 45th Anniversary of the Attica uprising.” Numerous “mainstream media” covered the anniversary or reviewed a new book on the events, Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson. These include the New York Times, The New Yorker, Ebony magazine, NBC News, USA Today, the Atlantic, the Daily News and many more.
The National Lawyers Guild, The Gathering for Justice and Justice League NYC, the San Francisco Bay View weekly, and the New York City Civil Liberties Union have called on New York prison authorities to lift the ban.
“By censoring these news articles ... the Committee is severely infringing on freedom of the press as well as limiting the ability of the Militant’s imprisoned subscribers to access important material concerning human rights: rights that do not end where prison walls begin,” wrote Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan, National Lawyers Guild president, Oct. 31.
The charge of inciting rebellion “is nonsense,” wrote Carmen Perez, executive director of the Gathering for Justice and Justice League NYC. “Our nation is founded on the principles of freedom of speech and our incarcerated brothers and sisters deserve the same rights and protections as all Americans.”
“Prisoners do not lose their First Amendment rights for the same reason the First Amendment was written into the Constitution: Democracy requires a well-informed citizenry,” wrote Mary Ratcliff, editor of the Bay View.
Goldstein noted that the decision censoring the Militant violates the New York State Department of Correction’s own regulations, which require that titles of alleged offending articles and the content objected to be spelled out.
The Department of Corrections rules state that its policy is “to encourage inmates to read publications from varied sources if such material does not encourage them to engage in behavior that might be disruptive.”
It states, “Publications which discuss different political philosophies and those dealing with criticism of Governmental and Departmental authority are acceptable as reading material provided they do not violate” their guidelines. “For example, publications such as Fortune News, the Militant, the Torch/La Antorcha, Workers World, and Revolutionary Worker shall generally be approved.”
“The articles and declaration in question discuss matters of public concern and historical significance,” the New York Civil Liberties Union said in a letter to prison authorities. “The impoundment represents an unfair and unreasonable application” of the prison guidelines and is “an unconstitutional violation of the rights of the Militant” and its subscribers.
The Militant currently has some 140 subscribers in 72 prisons in the United States, both state and federal. Officials at no other prison have censored that issue “and there are no known incidents of rebellion against governmental authority as a result of the issue being delivered” to subscribers, Goldstein said.
“Just like the rest of the working class, which is discussing what to do in face of the deepening impact of the capitalist economic and social crisis, workers behind bars need access to information and a variety of viewpoints so they can form their own opinions,” said John Studer, editor of the Militant.
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