Vol. 81/No. 6 February 13, 2017
‘Militant’ wins solidarity fighting prison censorship
The impounding of the Militant at Attica “infringes prisoners’ rights to freedom of expression and violates the UN Standard Minimum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners, otherwise known as the Mandela Rules,” Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA, told the Attica Media Review Committee in a Jan. 26 letter.
Attica officials impounded three issues of the paper sent to subscriber Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom). Muntaqim, a co-founder of the Jericho Movement, which fights for amnesty for political prisoners, has since been transferred to the Southport Correctional Facility, after he was accused by Attica authorities of violating prison rules for comments he made during a class on Black history he was teaching to fellow inmates. He was sentenced to four months of solitary confinement.
The first banned issue featured an article on the 45th anniversary of the 1971 Attica prison rebellion, an anniversary covered by news media across the United States and around the world. “While the language used may be strong,” Huang noted, “in no way does it encourage insurrection or even civil disobedience.”
The impounding of two subsequent issues of the paper that reported on the fight against the censorship “serve no purpose in regards to facility safety and security,” she noted.
Supporters of the fight against censorship include a wide range of organizations and individuals (see box below).
The Militant’s lawyer, David Goldstein, from the prominent civil liberties firm Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman, has appealed the impoundments at Attica. A representative of the Central Office Media Review Committee told Goldstein that a decision has been made, but despite repeated requests, officials have not provided copies of their decision, nor informed the Militant of what it is.
Meanwhile, the Illinois River Correctional Institute sent notices to the Militant that it had impounded for review three issues of the paper, all of which contain articles on the fight against censorship at Attica. The notices are dated Dec. 10, 2016, but were not sent to the Militant until Jan. 27, 2017. The notices have a check next to a box that says the paper could be “detrimental to security, good order, rehabilitation, or discipline or it might facilitate criminal activity or be detrimental to mental health.”
“We will appeal Illinois officials’ seizure of the paper and continue our fight against censorship at Attica,” Militant editor John Studer said Feb. 1. “The charge that the paper could spark rebellion is an out and out slander. Workers behind bars in New York, in Illinois or wherever have a constitutional right to know what’s going on in the world, including in the rulers’ prisons, to consider a range of viewpoints and to think for themselves.
“I encourage our readers to help us win this fight by getting their unions, community and church organizations to send letters opposing the censorship of the Militant,” Studer said.
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home