California Lawmakers Address CDCR’s Banned Book List
Corrections officials usually limit what prisoners are allowed to read. A 2022 report by the nonprofit Marshall Project found that half the United States maintains lists of prohibited publications.
California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has some 3,000 disapproved books and magazines on its list—far fewer than the 20,000 titles banned by the Florida Department of Corrections. But the CDCR’s list of banned titles was difficult to find, causing banned books to be confiscated when unknowingly sent to prisoners. State lawmakers attempted to address this with AB 1986. Signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on September 26, 2024, it imposes additional requirements on CDCR when it bans reading material.
The legislation requires the state Office of Inspector General (OIG) to post the list of disallowed publications online. The CDCR must also notify OIG whenever a list change is made. Each entry for a banned magazine or book must include the title, author, publisher, year of publication and reason for disapproval.
PLN reviewed the CDCR’s banned publications list as of September 2024 and found the most common reason for censorship was sexual content, including “obscene material” or nudity. While that obviously applies to banned magazines like Anal Action and Bootylicious, the same reason was listed for banning multiple issues of National Geographic, as well as a fine art book, Leonardo Da Vinci: The Complete Paintings.
The CDCR’s list of disapproved books and magazines also includes titles related to martial arts and military training. Drug-related content is censored, along with publications that depict contraband, like firearms. So state prisoners won’t be reading High Times or Guns & Ammo. Contraband concerns were also cited to justify banning Inked Magazine, which features tattoos. Depictions of gang activity closed the book on the Cartel urban fiction series.
Many publications about serial killers are also banned, along with books about infamous convicts like George Jackson (Blood in My Eye, Soledad Brother). Oddly, prison-related cookbooks are also prohibited, including Prison Ramen; maybe the CDCR doesn’t want prisoners reminded that their food is lousy. Of greater concern are bans on well-known, mainstream titles like The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; Unbroken by Trisha Bailey; The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood; and the Game of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin.
Reasons were not readily apparent for prohibiting some publications, including issues of Architectural Digest; the June 1995 edition of MAD Magazine; various issues of Time, Newsweek, Men’s Health and The New Yorker; a book titled How to See Faeries; as well as Merriam Webster’s Visual Dictionary.
Unlike some other state prison systems, the CDCR bans Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf but apparently allows Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which is banned by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) due to sexual content. California prison officials have also prohibited books that they deem “lack[ing] serious literary value.”
AB 1986 allows prisoners, publishers and other “affected persons” to ask the OIG to review a publication that has been disapproved. If the OIG disagrees that a book or magazine violates prison rules or regulations, it must notify the CDCR.
While the OIG is required to issue an annual report summarizing its review of banned publications and the responses from prison officials, it cannot override the CDCR’s decision to ban a particular book or magazine.
Censorship of books in lockups is so prevalent that Prison Banned Books Week—an event organized to draw attention to this issue—is held each September. “Reading is an unmitigated good and should not be restricted,” said Moira Marquis, who founded the annual event. “There’s no good reason to limit reading for anyone—let alone incarcerated people.”
Unlike a recent increased focus on “book bans in schools and libraries across the country,” noted Megan Posco, prison censorship “doesn’t inspire similar outcry because of the stigma of incarceration.”
“In truth,” added Posco, who “has worked closely with incarcerated writers for years,” according to The Guardian, “prisons are the largest censors in the United States.”
PLN successfully sued CDCR for banning books that the nonprofit distributes. [See: PLN, Dec. 2008, p.7.] The list of prohibited publications in California state prisons is available online at: www.cdcr.ca.gov/family-resources/disapproved-publications
Additional source: The Guardian
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login