Prisoners Denied Reading Materials; ACLU Seeks Injunction Against South Carolina Jail Policy

The name of the game is control in the guise of security--a microcosm of the nation outside prison walls--the practice of power without compassion. After Magic Mushrooms and Other Highs was rejected for the second time, | appealed to the Regional Director of the Bureau of Prisons (as instructed by the warden) for an independent review. | also wrote to the ACLU. | heard back from neither. Todd McCormick was released from prison in December 2003. Among so many other things to catch up on, he would finally be able to read what he had written. However, he was discharged to a halfway house, where all his books and magazines were confiscated as “paraphernalia.” Postscript: Prisoners at a jail in South Carolina are being denied any reading material other than the Bible. In May 2011, the ACLU asked a federal judge to block enforcement of that policy. A staff member at the prison told plaintiff Prison Lega/ News. “Our inmates are only allowed to receive soft back bibles in the mail directly from the publisher. They are not allowed to have magazines, newspapers, or any other type of books.” There is no library there, and since 2008, all copies of Prison Legal News that were sent to prisoners have been “returned to sender.” HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015290