Vol. 81/No. 26 July 17, 2017
Defend ‘Militant’ against Florida prison censorship
The offending articles were titled “‘Militant’ files appeal against prison censorship in Florida” and “‘Militant’ fights to reverse censorship in Florida prison.”
In the “Notice of Rejection” received by the Militant June 27, officials at the Avon Park Correctional Institution falsely claim that both the June 12 and 19 Militant “encourages activities which may lead to the use of physical violence or group disruption,” “advocates or encourages riot, insurrection, disruption of the institution” and “presents a threat to the security, good order, or discipline of the correctional system.”
David Goldstein, the Militant’s attorney with the civil liberties firm Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky and Lieberman, has appealed all five impoundments to the Florida Department of Corrections’ Literature Review Committee. Pending review, copies of the materials are impounded in all Florida prisons.
The previous issues that were impounded contained articles on the Socialist Workers Party’s efforts to build this year’s May Day actions, calling for amnesty for immigrant workers in the U.S. and an end to deportations.
“Rejection of these issues violates the free speech rights of both the author and the inmate recipients,” wrote Benjamin Stevenson from the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, in a June 29 letter to the Literature Review Committee. “No penological reason justifies excluding inmates from reading about how undocumented workers are treated in the United States and how others plan to rally in favor of more progressive treatment.”
“More alarmingly, Avon Park CI censored two recent issues of the Militant that reported Santa Rosa CI’s impoundment, the newspaper’s appeal, and characterized the Florida prison’s response as censorship of political speech,” Stevenson writes. “This amounts to censorship of reports of censorship that could not possibly present a concrete risk to the safe operations of the prison.”
“The banning of the specified issues of the Militant is an undue restriction on the freedom of the press and prisoners’ rights,” Karin Deutsch Karlekar, director of Free Expression at Risk Programs for PEN America, wrote. “The Literature Review Committee’s claim that this material encourages physical violence or institutional disruption is without basis and their decision to censor the Militant should be overturned.”
“We have a problem here in Baker Correctional Facility,” a Florida inmate subscriber wrote to the Militant June 24. “Please do something so I can read my newspaper in peace. The Militant keeps us in tune on jobs, strikes and numerous other issues other newspapers can’t and will not ink about.”
The reader reported he has filed a grievance against the impoundment to go along with the Militant’s appeal.
The Militant has 48 readers in Florida prisons across the state.
“We will challenge prison censorship anywhere authorities infringe on the political rights of the Militant and our subscribers,” said Militant editor John Studer. “Workers behind bars need access to a wide range of viewpoints, including the political opinions of the Socialist Workers Party.”
Stop Prison Abuse Now, a Miami-based group working with prisoners, also sent a letter protesting the censorship.
To join the fight, send a letter of support to the Militant, 306 W. 37th St., 13th Floor, New York, NY 10018.
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home