PRESS RELEASE

 
Human Rights Defense Center

For Immediate Release
 
October 1, 2015

Publisher Files First Amendment Censorship Suit Against Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center

Richmond, VA – Prison Legal News (PLN), a monthly publication that reports on criminal justice-related issues and a project of the non-profit Human Rights Defense Center, has filed a lawsuit in federal court against unconstitutional censorship practices at the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center (NWADC) in Winchester.

The suit names the Northwestern Regional Jail Authority, NWADC Superintendent James F. Whitley and other jail employees as defendants, and says the jail has “adopted and implemented mail policies that unconstitutionally prohibit delivery of publications to prisoners in their custody and do not afford senders of censored mail due process notice and an opportunity to challenge the censorship as required by the Constitution.”

According to the complaint, in February 2014, Superintendent Whitley issued a memo to jail staff stating that with the exception of “approved” religious and educational materials, “books and magazines will no longer be allowed in the facility through the mail, directly from the publisher, or from a distribution source.”

As a result of this policy, from October 2014 to the date the lawsuit was filed, PLN’s monthly publication sent to prisoners at NWADC was censored at least 170 times; further, jail staff censored and withheld at least 41 legal self-help books mailed to prisoners, marking them “REFUSED: Per Jail Policy.” PLN did not receive any notice of this censorship.

“The First Amendment does not include an exception for jails to prohibit prisoners – many of whom are awaiting trial and presumed innocent – from receiving reading materials such as books and magazines,” said PLN editor Paul Wright. “This is government censorship at its worse, and a clear example of First Amendment and due process violations.”

“It is a sad commentary that some of our jails and prisons will not let prisoners read. This case is particularly egregious since prisoners may not receive any books, magazines or newspapers,” added Jeffrey Fogel, one of PLN’s attorneys.

PLN is seeking nominal, compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive relief, and a declaration that the jail’s practices violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as attorney fees and costs. On September 23, PLN filed a motion for preliminary injunction asking the court to enjoin NWADC from enforcing its unconstitutional censorship policy while the case is pending.

PLN is represented by Charlottesville attorneys Jeffrey E. Fogel and Steven D. Rosenfield, plus HRDC general counsel Lance Weber and staff attorney Sabarish Neelakanta. The case is Prison Legal News v. Northwestern Regional Jail Authority, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Case No. 5:15-cv-00061-EKD.

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The Human Rights Defense Center, founded in 1990 and based in Lake Worth, Florida, is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting human rights in U.S. detention facilities. HRDC publishes Prison Legal News (PLN), a monthly magazine that includes reports, reviews and analysis of court rulings and news related to prisoners’ rights and criminal justice issues. PLN has around 9,000 subscribers nationwide and operates a website (www.prisonlegalnews.org) that includes a comprehensive database of prison and jail-related articles, news reports, court rulings, verdicts, settlements and related documents.

For further information, please contact:

Paul Wright, Executive Director

Human Rights Defense Center

(516) 360-2523

pwright@prisonlegalnews.org

Lance Weber, General Counsel

Human Rights Defense Center

(561) 360-2523

lweber@humanrightsdefensecenter.org

Jeffrey Fogel, Attorney

(434) 984-0300

jeff.fogel@gmail.com