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From the Editor

Paul Wright

January 15, 2001, marks the end of PLN's matching grant fundraiser. PLN still hasn't reached the full $15,000 grant maximum. If you haven't donated yet to the matching grant fundraiser please do so now. We will report the fundraiser's results in the March, 2001, issue of PLN.

On November 14, 2000, the Ninth circuit court of appeals, sitting in Portland, Oregon, heard oral argument in PLN v. Cook. The suit is PLN's challenge to the Oregon DOC's ban on third class non profit mail. The ban has effectively kept PLN out of Oregon prisons for the past four years. PLN lost the case on summary judgment before judge Malcolm Marsh in Portland. The appeals court panel, judges Beezer, Rhymer and Graber, was well prepared for the case: Oregon is the only state whose prisons ban third class non profit mail. PLN has successfully litigated the issue in Washington and Utah. PLN's Seattle attornies, Sam Stiltner and Janet Stanton, brief and argued the case. Joseph Bringman, of the Seattle firm Perkins Coie filed an amicus brief on supporting PLN on behalf of the Washington ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild, Independent Press Association, Americans for Religious Liberty and American Humanist Association.

The outcome of the case will determine the rights of prisoners to receive mail and the rights of publishers to send mail to prisoners at the postage rates authorized by congress. PLN will report the court's ruling as soon as it is issued.

We ask that prisoner subscribers notify PLN if their PLN subscription is censored by prison officials. Prisoners should also exhaust their administrative remedies whenPLN is censored and send PLN the results if that is unsuccessful.

As a reminder, PLN now accepts credit card orders by phone for books, back issues and subscriptions. PLN's phone number, (360) 8051037, is on page two of every issue.

The past several issues of PLN have seen a higher than normal amount of typo's and spelling errors. PLN is transitioning to a new layout person who is still getting the hang of it. We should be back to the normal amount of typo's shortly.

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