TRI In The News
Update: Local Opposition to Ban on Spanish Language Books in Prison
From Newsplex
Original article available here.
UPDATE:
The Virginia Department of Corrections is responding to Virginia prisons' ban of Spanish-language reading materials.
Spokesman Larry Taylor sent a statement to CBS19, saying, "Publications that are written in languages other than English that cannot be readily translated and reviewed for content pose an overriding security concern for the DOC."
Taylor said the Department of Corrections has a committee that reviews publications. He said foreign language versions of the Bible and Quran are allowed in prisons, along with Spanish versions of a handful of popular magazines.
ORIGINAL STORIES:
May 19, 2010
"This is the 'Word of the Faith,'" says Fanny Smedile. "In Spanish it is 'Palabria Vida Y Fe.'"
Smedile is holding a Catholic book in Spanish about making every day count, and finding hope and faith in life. This is a message she thought would resonate with a young woman in her church, The Church of the Incarnation, who was arrested on drug charges. Smedile says she reached out to her.
"She was very involved here in the Church. She's a hard worker, and she never had any trouble. It surprised me when I got a call that she was in jail," says Smedile.
Fanny Smedile volunteers during her free time, but her day job requires her to work long hours. Still, she went to visit the parishioner at the jail, and found a book publisher to mail her friend a copy of the religious book.
"You make sure there's nothing there, and give it to her because she needs to read because in the jail they don't have anything in Spanish," says Smedile, as she recalls the conversation she had with a prison guard.
All the Spanish books she tried to send through a publisher were rejected.
As a board member for the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional jail, Albemarle County Sheriff Chip Harding doesn't see the merit in the current Department of Corrections prison policy against Spanish books. At the jail, Spanish books are allowed.
"I would challenge the Department of Corrections are you going to read every book published in English? Look at every page and every word? I just think it's something they need to revisit," says Sheriff Harding.
As the number of Hispanic prisoners increases, officials say the prisons need to address the issue.
"It's a shame. You've got somebody incarcerated, and they can't improve themselves," says Sheriff Harding.
Smedile understands some people believe all prisoners should read and write in English. In fact, she encourages her friend to take English classes. But at the same time, she doesn't want her to lose her identity, and part of that is her Spanish language.
"We don't want to lose our language. We don't want to lose our traditions, our customs," she says.
For now, the church volunteer continues to support her friend, and continues to pray.
CBS19 reached out to a spokesperson with the Department of Corrections and have not yet received a response.
May 18, 2010
If prison inmates wants to learn and read while doing their time behind bars, they must do so in English. There's a big debate brewing as to why the state won't provide Spanish language books to inmates.
Charlottesville has a vibrant Latino community, and many are frustrated that they can't send books in Spanish, including religious books, to inmates. Now, the Director of the Rutherford Institute is hoping to change this.
About 500 parishioners attend a Spanish speaking mass every Sunday at the Church of the Incarnation in Charlottesville. But if Latino prisoners look to the church for religious materials in Spanish, they can't send them. A local civil liberties organization is drafting a letter to change that.
"You can not do blanket denials of certain languages to prisoners in terms of the materials they might receive in the mail, so it's unconstitutional," says John Whitehead, Director of the Rutherford Institute.
The issue was brought to Whitehead's attention by the President of the Books Behind Bars program, which sends thousands of books to inmates. They started getting requests from prisoners for books in foreign languages, especially Spanish.
However, the Department of Corrections requires that only books with an exact replica translation in English may be sent to prisoners.
"They can't even get copies of the Bible," says Whitehead.
Many times, that's what these prisoners are asking for. A priest with the Church of the Incarnation says they frequently get requests for religious texts.
Those involved say the prison system is concerned that the books may contain gang messages. Whitehead says there are solutions to that problem.
"If there are written messages in books they can erase them or mark over them and the prisoners will never see them."
The Rutherford Institute hopes to resolve this with a letter.
This general rule about books in a foreign language does not apply to jails. Local jails like the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional jail accepts books in Spanish, according to someone who works in the prison library.
