The fight to reverse the unconstitutional ban of the Nov. 11, 2024, issue of the Militant by authorities at the Lower Buckeye Jail in Phoenix is winning support from defenders of civil liberties and prisoners’ political rights from around the U.S. and abroad.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office says this issue, no. 42, was impounded because of “a photo on the cover of the newspaper that was found to violate MCSO policy,” which “does not allow photos of weaponry.”
The photo illustrated armed Hamas thugs seizing a woman and taking her hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023, pogrom the reactionary outfit carried out in Israel. The photo — which also appeared in newspapers all across the country and worldwide — accompanied a Militant article explaining why the fight against Jew-hatred and the potential for a new Holocaust is crucial to the working class in the U.S. and worldwide.
“The right of incarcerated workers to stay in touch with the world outside a prison is vital for both themselves, their families and the working class as a whole,” Ann Fiander wrote from Manchester, England, to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Feb. 4. “Using the pretext that this widely used image has a weapon in it does not hold water. Other publications showing the image have not been banned.
“I understand confiscation of an inmate’s political literature violates important First Amendment rights,” she wrote. “I ask you to reverse the ban.”
Militant attorney David Goldstein filed an appeal of the ban Jan. 13. He pointed out that the paper is mailed to over 300 inmate subscribers in 29 states at 156 state, federal and municipal prisons or jails. No other facility “found the photo (or anything else) in no. 42 justified rejection,” he wrote. The ban “is discriminatory and arbitrary, in violation of the Militant’s rights to Due Process and Equal Protection under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.”
Join the fight to get this impoundment overturned. Spread the word. Mail letters urging the reversal of the ban to Ancillary Services Division Commander, MCSO, 3250 W. Lower Buckeye Road, Phoenix, AZ 85009. Email a copy to mcsocentralmailroom@mcso.maricopa.gov, and also to themilitant@mac.com.