The Federal Bureau of Prisons regulations, as investigated by The Atlantic, state their right to prohibit any publications found “to be detrimental to the security, good order, or discipline of the institution or if it might facilitate criminal activity.” Chelsea Manning is incarcerated for divulging state secrets to WikiLeaks. The fact that she used to be […]
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Novelist LaShonda Katrice Barnett discusses her debut novel, Jam on the Vine, how becoming a historian taught her about plot, Muslims living in Texas in the 19th century, and the Missouri State Penitentiary, also known as “the bloodiest 47 acres in America.”
...morePiper Kerman, author of the memoir Orange is the New Black, is a vocal spokesperson for the rights of prisoners. But, asks April Bernard on the New York Review of Books blog, does the successful Netflix show that is based on the book, do the same? Or does it trivialize the plight of prisoners and turn […]
...moreMobyLives reports that British prisons have banned books sent as gifts, a right even allowed in notorious Guantanamo Bay. Many British authors have criticized the new policy—an online petition has collected more than 20,000 signatures. Even prison staff seem to think the policy is a bad idea. Prison Minister Jeremy Wright has defended the decision, saying […]
...moreMore information on the South Carolina jail that refuses to allow its inmates any books or reading materials that are not the Bible, spurring last year’s ACLU lawsuit and a new motion to prevent the policy, which we mentioned last week. “‘This is nothing more than an excuse by jail officials to ban books and […]
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