Instead of inmates being able to receive donated books in the mail from family members and community groups, inmates at three New York prisons now have to purchase books selected by six, state-approved vendors. And the selection is limited. And expensive, activists say.
And about a quarter of the titles are coloring books.
According to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the directive is in an effort to restrict contraband from entering the prison “through a more controlled inmate package program.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office has made the point that inmates still have access to prison libraries, but some say it’s not enough. “The problem with prison libraries is that [the prisons] control who has access to them,” said Amy Peterson with NYC Books Through Bars. “So people who are in solitary confinement don’t have access to prison libraries.”
Peterson’s group has been mailing books to prisoners all over the country for nearly two decades, with a focus on New York. “We get letters from people saying they had to borrow a stamp in order to write to us. So if these people can’t even afford postage, we don’t know how they’re going to be able to afford buying books from a vendor,” she said.
Over the past several days, inmate advocates pointed out that the vendors combined offered only five romance novels, 14 religious texts, 24 drawing or coloring books, 21 puzzle books, 11 how-to books, one dictionary, and one thesaurus.
“No books that help people learn to overcome addictions or learn how to improve as parents. No Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, Maya Angelou, or other literature that helps people connect with what it means to be human. No texts that help provide skills essential to finding and maintaining work after release from prison. No books about health, about history, about almost anything inside or outside the prison walls,” advocacy group Books Behind Bars complained in a letter to the governor.
This is nothing more than a blatant way to try and extort money from inmates while also controlling what they can and can’t read
It’s utterly disgusting
Wait, and they have to pay to Skype family, too? Soooooo….basically all they can do is work??!!
UPDATE:
Oh there’s more. So fucking vile…
All of this info was listed in the DOCCS breakdown before they “magically” deleted it from the database…
These kind of restrictions can disproportionately affect queer and trans inmates, who often end up in solitary confinement for their “protection” and don’t have the ability to earn funds to buy books or access prison libraries. They also frequently depend on organizations that send books to prisoners.
fadeslikewhispers 