The Florida Department of Corrections Literature Review Committee informed Militant attorney David Goldstein it has scheduled an “initial review” July 18 on the paper’s appeal of the banning of Militant issue no. 17 by the Jackson Correctional Institution in Malone, Florida.
It has been receiving letters for weeks from organizations and individuals urging the committee to overturn the impoundment. The prison’s ruling is a violation of inmates’ constitutional rights and the freedom of the press, and of the Militant’s right to reach its subscribers.
“I write on behalf of the Southern Center for Human Rights to encourage you to reverse the impoundment,” Terrica Redfield Ganzy, the group’s executive director, wrote to the Literature Review Committee July 16. By impounding this issue, “Jackson Correctional Institution is denying incarcerated individuals their constitutional right to access information and engage with diverse viewpoints.”
“Access to diverse ideas,” she adds, “is a crucial aspect of maintaining human dignity within the prison system, as incarcerated individuals have limited opportunities to connect with the outside world.”
The paper received a notice May 17 from prison authorities in Malone saying they had impounded the Militant dated April 29 for running a photo they claim “shows dead person being paraded around on a motorcycle; magazine depict hatred toward a specific race.” Goldstein filed an appeal May 23. It has been pending since.
In fact, this widely circulated Associated Press picture accompanied an article in the Militant opposing Jew-hatred. The photo shows the body of a Jewish man murdered by Hamas during its deadly Oct. 7 pogrom in Israel being driven around Gaza City to cheers by the Jew-hating group’s supporters.
“For decades the Militant has spoken out against Jew-hatred and the dangers it poses for all working people. We call for uniting Jewish, Arab, immigrant and other workers to defend their common class interests,” said Militant editor John Studer.
Prison authorities claim the photo is “dangerously inflammatory” and violates prison rules, including the encouragement of “riot, insurrection, rebellion” and “organized prison protest.”
“The censorship of No. 17 based on the photo,” wrote Goldstein in the Militant’s appeal, “is unconstitutional, arbitrary and discriminatory.” It is “in violation of the Militant’s right to Due Process and Equal Protection under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.”
Among those who have sent letters calling for the ban to be overturned are the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida and nationwide; Florida Press Association; PEN America; Amnesty International; Inna Stavitsky, former president of the Holocaust Memorial Committee in Brooklyn, New York; 20 librarians who recently participated in the American Library Association conference in San Diego; Mark Lee, principal officer for Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union Local 57 in Mount Gilead, Ohio; and the list goes on.
If you would like copies of any or all of these letters, contact the Militant.
Over the past decade Florida prison officials have tried to suppress issues of the Militant nearly 50 times. The paper challenged every ban and has won the vast majority.
