SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The book The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander was added to New Jersey's list of books banned from some of the state's correctional facilities. (Photo: Handout)
'Ironic, Misguided, and Harmful': Prisons Slammed for Banning Book on Racist Legacy of Mass Incarceration
"It is one thing to prevent incarcerated people from reading how-to manuals on lock-picking. It is something altogether different to deny people access to a book that 'offers a timely and original framework for understanding mass incarceration.'"
Jan 08, 2018
Civil rights advocates denounced New Jersey's prison system on Monday after learning that the book The New Jim Crow, about race and mass incarceration in the U.S., has been banned from some of the state's prisons.
"The DOC--and every player in the criminal justice system, from police officers and prosecutors to judges and legislators--must take affirmative steps to reduce our state's shameful racial disparities," wrote Tess Borden and Alexander Shalom, attorneys with the state's American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) chapter, in a letter to the New Jersey Department of Corrections. "The ban on The New Jim Crow does precisely the opposite and is a step backwards instead."
"In its worst light, it looks like an attempt to keep impacted people uninformed about the history of the very injustice that defines their daily lives."--ACLU-New Jersey
The ACLU accused the prison system of violating the First Amendment by withholding the book, written by Michelle Alexander and subtitled "Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," and argued that there is no legitimate reason to ban the award-winning work.
Under New Jersey's own regulations, prisons are allowed to ban material that has been shown to hinder the security of facilities--including writings on lock-picking, weapon-making, and materials that could "incite violence"--but The New Jim Crow is far from fitting this description, said the attorneys.
The book details the history of the U.S. prison system and how it came to house a disproportionate number of black men, growing out of the slavery system and discriminatory Jim Crow laws. New Jersey's correctional facilities offer an especially egregious example of this, incarcerating black people more than 12 times as often as white residents--compared with the national ratio of five-to-one.
"It is one thing to prevent incarcerated people from reading how-to manuals on lock-picking," wrote Borden and Shalom. "It is something altogether different to deny people access to a book that 'offers a timely and original framework for understanding mass incarceration.'"
They added, "For the state burdened with this systemic injustice to prohibit prisoners from reading a book about race and mass incarceration is grossly ironic, misguided, and harmful...In its worst light, it looks like an attempt to keep impacted people uninformed about the history of the very injustice that defines their daily lives."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Civil rights advocates denounced New Jersey's prison system on Monday after learning that the book The New Jim Crow, about race and mass incarceration in the U.S., has been banned from some of the state's prisons.
"The DOC--and every player in the criminal justice system, from police officers and prosecutors to judges and legislators--must take affirmative steps to reduce our state's shameful racial disparities," wrote Tess Borden and Alexander Shalom, attorneys with the state's American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) chapter, in a letter to the New Jersey Department of Corrections. "The ban on The New Jim Crow does precisely the opposite and is a step backwards instead."
"In its worst light, it looks like an attempt to keep impacted people uninformed about the history of the very injustice that defines their daily lives."--ACLU-New Jersey
The ACLU accused the prison system of violating the First Amendment by withholding the book, written by Michelle Alexander and subtitled "Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," and argued that there is no legitimate reason to ban the award-winning work.
Under New Jersey's own regulations, prisons are allowed to ban material that has been shown to hinder the security of facilities--including writings on lock-picking, weapon-making, and materials that could "incite violence"--but The New Jim Crow is far from fitting this description, said the attorneys.
The book details the history of the U.S. prison system and how it came to house a disproportionate number of black men, growing out of the slavery system and discriminatory Jim Crow laws. New Jersey's correctional facilities offer an especially egregious example of this, incarcerating black people more than 12 times as often as white residents--compared with the national ratio of five-to-one.
"It is one thing to prevent incarcerated people from reading how-to manuals on lock-picking," wrote Borden and Shalom. "It is something altogether different to deny people access to a book that 'offers a timely and original framework for understanding mass incarceration.'"
They added, "For the state burdened with this systemic injustice to prohibit prisoners from reading a book about race and mass incarceration is grossly ironic, misguided, and harmful...In its worst light, it looks like an attempt to keep impacted people uninformed about the history of the very injustice that defines their daily lives."
Civil rights advocates denounced New Jersey's prison system on Monday after learning that the book The New Jim Crow, about race and mass incarceration in the U.S., has been banned from some of the state's prisons.
"The DOC--and every player in the criminal justice system, from police officers and prosecutors to judges and legislators--must take affirmative steps to reduce our state's shameful racial disparities," wrote Tess Borden and Alexander Shalom, attorneys with the state's American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) chapter, in a letter to the New Jersey Department of Corrections. "The ban on The New Jim Crow does precisely the opposite and is a step backwards instead."
"In its worst light, it looks like an attempt to keep impacted people uninformed about the history of the very injustice that defines their daily lives."--ACLU-New Jersey
The ACLU accused the prison system of violating the First Amendment by withholding the book, written by Michelle Alexander and subtitled "Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," and argued that there is no legitimate reason to ban the award-winning work.
Under New Jersey's own regulations, prisons are allowed to ban material that has been shown to hinder the security of facilities--including writings on lock-picking, weapon-making, and materials that could "incite violence"--but The New Jim Crow is far from fitting this description, said the attorneys.
The book details the history of the U.S. prison system and how it came to house a disproportionate number of black men, growing out of the slavery system and discriminatory Jim Crow laws. New Jersey's correctional facilities offer an especially egregious example of this, incarcerating black people more than 12 times as often as white residents--compared with the national ratio of five-to-one.
"It is one thing to prevent incarcerated people from reading how-to manuals on lock-picking," wrote Borden and Shalom. "It is something altogether different to deny people access to a book that 'offers a timely and original framework for understanding mass incarceration.'"
They added, "For the state burdened with this systemic injustice to prohibit prisoners from reading a book about race and mass incarceration is grossly ironic, misguided, and harmful...In its worst light, it looks like an attempt to keep impacted people uninformed about the history of the very injustice that defines their daily lives."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.