A rather interesting first amendment case in Kansas regarding the Prison Industrial Complex . .
PRESS RELEASE
Prison Legal News – For Immediate Release
August 31, 2011
Publisher Sues Shawnee County, Kansas, Over Jail’s No-Publication Policy
Topeka, KS – Prison Legal News (PLN), a non-profit monthly publication that reports on criminal justice-related issues and a project of the Human Rights Defense Center, today filed a federal lawsuit against the Shawnee County, Kansas, Board of Commissioners and Richard Kline, Director of the Shawnee County Department of Corrections.
The suit alleges First Amendment violations due to a policy at the Shawnee County jail that prohibits prisoners from receiving books and other publications sent to them through the mail.
According to the Shawnee County Dept. of Corrections’ website, “No packages, newspapers, magazines, books, or other personal property is to be mailed to the facility.”
As a result of that policy, PLN’s monthly publication and books sent to prisoners at the jail were censored by jail staff. PLN consequently filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, arguing the policy unconstitutionally infringes on its right under the First Amendment to send reading material to prisoners at the jail.
According to PLN’s complaint, “since at least November 2010, Plaintiff has sent copies of the monthly publication Prison Legal News, subscription renewal letters, informational brochures and soft-cover books such as Protecting Your Health and Safety to a number of individuals confined in the Shawnee County Jail.” All of the reading material was censored pursuant to the facility’s mail policy.
“The policy at the Shawnee County jail that restricts prisoners from receiving any books or other publications is an egregious violation of the First Amendment,” said PLN editor Paul Wright.
“One would think that law enforcement officials would be in the business of upholding the Constitution, not violating it on a daily basis by enforcing such ill-conceived policies.”
PLN is seeking a declaration that the jail’s no-publication policy violates its rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees and costs. PLN has prevailed in similar censorship cases nationwide.
PLN is represented by Doug Bonney, chief counsel and legal director for the ACLU Foundation of Kansas and Western Missouri, as well as Kansas City attorneys James D. Jenkins and Fred Slough, and Human Rights Defense Center chief counsel Lance Weber. The case is Prison Legal News v. Board of Commissioners of Shawnee County, U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, Case No. 2:11-cv-02497-WEB-KGG.
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Thats right you heard it here first!
ReplyDeleteTony while you know about many things, you know virtually nothing about jails and prisons.
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked at Leavenworth, you could only get books thru a reputable source, like Barnes and Noble or Amazon. It's common security practice to not allow things like that thru the mail. Besides, fuck 'em, they're inmates!
ReplyDeleteYour in jail you shouldn't have rights. If you wanted to read or have rights don't go to jail.
ReplyDeleteFirst Amendment anyone?
ReplyDeleteAll you hard asses are just one pot bust away from finding out just how corrupt the prison system is....
ReplyDeleteAmen, brother.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. Sad to see this in KC.
ReplyDelete"Sad to see this in KC." Shawnee County is Topeka, not KC.
ReplyDeleteShit, sad to see this anywhere in the midwest. But thanks for the correction. I read it as Shawnee Mission, didn't notice the county.
ReplyDeletePeople awaiting trial are presumed innocent until proven guilty. They shouldn't be denied reading material.
ReplyDelete