2018
Summary
On October 11, 2018, Media Coalition Foundation and the Authors Guild joined an amicus brief signed by 28 other organizations that favor freedom of the press and oppose censorship.
The brief asks the United States Supreme Court to grant certiorari in a case filed by Prison Legal News, a monthly magazine that focuses on criminal justice issues and prison rights, which has been banned by the Florida Department of Corrections from being distributed at correctional facilities across the state. The brief argues that the rule cited by the department in issuing the ban relies on vague standards to screen incoming mail for inmates in the correctional facilities and thus violates the First Amendment.
The amicus brief
The brief argues that the rule implemented by the Florida Department of Corrections that allows prison officials to screen incoming mail for inmates violates the First Amendment because it is too vague. The vagueness, the brief notes, can be used conceal a true intent to censor Prison Legal News based on its content, by merely citing that it violates department rules.
It also argues that the explanation of the ban by the Florida Department of Corrections — namely, that Prison Legal News includes advertisements promoting “three-way calling services,” “pen pal services,” purchases by postage stamps or “conducting a business or profession” — is a content-based restriction. Although the standard established in Turner v. Safley requires deference to prison officials’ decisions, the brief argues that the Turner standard applies on content-neutral restrictions, and because this rule is based on the content of the speech being restricted, a higher standard must apply.
History
Background
Since 2009, the Florida Department of Corrections has impounded every issue of Prison Legal News mailed to subscribers in Florida correctional facilities. The department cited its “Admissible Reading Material Rule,” which allows prison officials to bar publications if it contains advertisements for three-way calling services, pen pal solicitation services, cash-for-stamps exchange services, or for conducting a business. The rule requires the department to send all publishers a notice form listing the specific reasons for impoundment. The department did not send Prison Legal News a notice form for 26 out of the 62 issues it impounded.
For the notice forms that Prison Legal News did receive, it appealed the decision to the department’s Literature Review Committee. The appeals were unsuccessful, so the magazine sued the department in November 2011 to stop the impoundments.
Lower court rulings and appeals
The district court ruled against Prison Legal News on its claim that the rule violated its First Amendment rights. The court, however, ruled for the magazine on its Fourteenth Amendment claim, that the failure to provide notice by the department violated its right to procedural due process.
The Florida Department of Corrections appealed the district court’s judgment that it violated the magazine’s due process rights. The magazine cross-appealed the court’s judgment that the rule violated the First Amendment.
On May 17, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued its opinion in the case. The court affirmed the district court ruling. The court held that the department’s reasons for impounding Prison Legal News “are reasonably related to its legitimate interests in prison security and public safety,” so per the Turner standard, the court defers to its decision and holds that the impoundments do not violate the First Amendment. The court also upheld the district court’s Fourteenth Amendment ruling, allowing the injunction that requires the department to adhere to its own rules about providing publishers a notice for impoundment.
On September 14, 2018, Prison Legal News filed a petition for writ of certiorari at the United States Supreme Court. A response brief from the Florida Department of Corrections is due on October 19, 2018.