Prison Suit Progress

Washington prisoners win the right to read; companies challenge prison labor
by Doug Collins

In the last few years, prisoners in Washington State have had trouble receiving subscription publications via US mail. The Department of Corrections (DOC) enacted a policy that prisoners could not receive bulkmail (non-first-class mail that most publications use), and could not receive any gift subscriptions, nor certain publications including the Maoist MIM Notes.

The Washington Free Press was not getting through to prisoners as bulkmail (we have a policy of free subscriptions to prisoners, but the Washington State subscriptions for months were being delivered to bulkmail limbo).

In 1997, a collection of prisoners, publications, and the ACLU filed suit against these policies and reached a largely favorable settlement late last year.

The DOC has agreed to deliver subscription publications regardless of whether they are delivered first-class or bulkmail, and now permits limited gift subscriptions.

Censorship of publications still exists, but on a case-by-case basis, and mostly for "obscene" sexual content. MIM Notes will apparently be forwarded to prisoner subscribers.

The DOC also agreed to forward court rulings and other legal records to prisoners in the nine Washington prisons that have law libraries. Previously, prison officials had been arbitrarily censoring such documents.

Two prisoners who joined the lawsuit were Prison Legal News (PLN) editor Paul Wright and contributing writer Mark Cook.

In other legal news, Paul Wright reports in the February issue of PLN that a collection of waterjet cutting companies has filed suit in King County Superior Court challenging the DOC's practice of letting private companies use prison labor and facilities.

Currently, the DOC has as agreement with Microjet and other businesses to provide free space and utilities for manufacturing in the prisons (reported in the Free Press of September 1997). Prisoners working for Microjet now make a maximum of $8.65 per hour, whereas waterjet cutters on the outside generally start at $14 an hour, reports PLN.

The plaintiff, the Washington Waterjet Workers Association is challenging the use of prison labor and facilities on a number of grounds, including the wage discrepancy and a state law which plaintiffs say prohibits the state from leasing or providing convict labor or buildings to private businesses.

Subscriptions to PLN are $15 for prisoners, $25 for individuals, and $60 for institutions and lawyers. Send to PMB 148, 2400 NW 80th Street, Seattle 98117.