TRI In The News

Rutherford: Give Inmates Books Back

From the Daily Progress
Original article available here.

The Albemarle County-based Rutherford Institute is demanding reinstatement of a local program that provides free books to inmates, claiming the shelving of the 20-year-old Books Behind Bars is a violation of the First Amendment.

Rutherford Institute attorney Douglas R. McKusick on Monday sent a letter to Gene M. Johnson, director of the Virginia Department of Corrections, claiming the move violates freedom of speech rights for both inmates and the nonprofit sponsor. He demanded the action be rescinded and the program be allowed to continue.

Corrections officials recently decided the Charlottesville-based organization, operated out of the Quest Bookshop on West Main Street, could no longer send books directly to prisoners. Officials said the direct link created potential security risks in that contraband could be included inside books. They also said the number of books sent made it difficult for prison personnel to manage inmate property.

McKusick's letter argued that the concerns "do not warrant denying essential First Amendment freedoms" to the organization and prisoners. The letter gives officials until the end of business Thursday to respond, indicating that the civil liberties group would consider other means, including legal action, to get the program reinstated.

Corrections officials on Monday said Johnson had yet to see the letter and could not comment on it. Kay Allison, who operates the Quest Bookshop and oversees the book program, said she appreciates the Rutherford Institute's help and hopes the issue can be resolved. She declined further comment.

The program provided books to about 11,000 inmates. Most of the books were dictionaries sent free to any prisoner who requested one. Religious books, including the Bible and Quran, and books on spirituality, were also popular.

Corrections officials said they changed their policy on sending books directly to prisoners as they reconsidered security concerns and the need to track inmate possessions. They said the program could, instead, donate books to the Virginia Department of Correctional Education for distribution to prison libraries.

McKusick said in his letter that option is not sufficient. "Prison library officials cannot respond to the specific intellectual or spiritual need of a prisoner who desires a book on a specific topic," he wrote. "Nor can prison libraries provide inmates with books upon which they may regularly rely, such as dictionaries, the Bible or other religious texts."

John Whitehead, Rutherford Institute founder and president, said the state's decision is one of a slew of recent efforts across the nation in which officials have tried to restrict inmates' First Amendment rights.

"We fight these types of cases all over the country, mostly involving spiritual and religious texts," Whitehead said. "The Supreme Court has clearly ruled that inmates have a right to receive information, the nonprofits have a right to send it and the corrections officials have a right to inspect it, but not prevent it. In this particular case, I would think that this would be a great program to have in a prison."

The institute, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and several religious organizations, recently intervened in a Rappahan-nock County regional jail's censorship of religious materials sent to inmates.

In one case, a three-page letter sent to an inmate by his mother was redacted to "nothing more than the salutation, the first paragraph of the letter and the closing, 'Love, Mom,'" Whitehead said.

"That's a clear violation of the First Amendment," he said. "The problem is that a lot of people don't seem to know much about the Constitution."