This week theNorth Carolina American Civil Liberties Unionwrote a letter to state officials asking them to remove “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age of Colorblindness” (The New Press/2012) from thelist of banned booksin state prisons.The book argues that the U.S. criminal justice system is a contemporary system of racial control.
The day after state officials received the letter from the ACLU, they removed “The New Jim Crow” from the list of banned books.
Host FrankStasiotalks toChris Brook, legal director for the North Carolina ACLU, about why the list of banned books exists and the criteria for how books make it on the list. MicheleLuecking-Sunman, an attorney who works withNorth Carolina Prisoner Legal Services, discusses her experience working with inmates whose books were banned.
Interview Highlights
Chris Brook on the letter from the North Carolina ACLU to state prison officials:[The letter] really highlighted, first and foremost, that those who are incarcerated in North Carolina do not lose their constitutional rights … They have First Amendment rights to receive publications. But second, also highlighting the real perversity in preventing prisoners who are very familiar with the racial disparities in our prison system here in North Carolina from accessing a book that talks about mass incarceration and talks about racial injustices in our criminal justice system.
Michele Luecking-Sunman on what happens if the state’s Publications Review Committee decides material is not appropriate for the inmates:
If they determine that the book or the magazine is not appropriate, the person who's incarcerated can determine if they'd like to have it sent home or sent to a friend. Or it will be destroyed, and then it remains on the list for a year.
Check out the book trailer for "The New Jim Crow":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWvEfg8bVB4
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