Nothing but the Bible for These South Carolina Inmates, ACLU Says
A South Carolina jail is denying its inmates access to any reading material other than the Bible, the ACLU says, quoting an email from a jail staffer.
A South Carolina jail is denying its inmates access to any reading material other than the Bible, the ACLU says, quoting an email from a jail staffer. The group has filed a lawsuit challenging the policy at the Berkeley County Detention Center in Moncks Corner, S.C. –ARK
Rock Solid JournalismThe Guardian:
Last year’s lawsuit quotes an email from a member of staff at the prison to Prison Legal News, which said that “our inmates are only allowed to receive soft back bibles in the mail directly from the publisher. They are not allowed to have magazines, newspapers, or any other type of books”. It charges that, since 2008, copies of Prison Legal News and books – including Protecting Your Health and Safety, which explains legal rights to inmates – sent to prisoners at the jail have been returned to sender. There is no library at the Berkeley County detention centre, the ACLU says, so that “prisoners who are incarcerated for extended periods of time have been deprived of access to magazines, newspapers and books – other than the Bible – for months or even years on end”.
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