First Amendment rights
By Brandon Astor Jones
"An unconditional right to say what one pleases about public affairs is what I consider to be the minimum guarantee of the First Amendment." — Hugo La Fayette Black, 1886-1971, Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court (1937-71, in New York Times Company v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 [1964]
"Look at your correspondence list and make some judgement calls." — Claude McCann, Unit One manager
How would you like to be told that you must choose which friends and loved ones you will no longer be allowed to correspond with? That is precisely what the unit manager's words (above) order me to do.
Early in 1999, I tried to make my weekly purchase of $20 worth of US postage stamps at the only place I am allowed to, the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison (GD&CP) store. I was informed that, from now on, prisoners would be permitted to purchase only 20 stamps per week, and that 60 cent stamps would be the largest denomination available. The fact that it would cost more than $20 to mail the business and personal letters, essays, poems and articles I had written that week meant nothing to the powers that be.
The stamp restriction is a First Amendment rights issue. According to the First Amendment, freedom of speech and access to the press is guaranteed to all — even to those in prison. However, the unit manager's words mean that I am expected to reduce my correspondence.
For those of us living under the death sentence, his directive has dire consequences. Because telephone use is restricted to two 15-minute calls a month and we do not have access to e-mail, correspondence is the only means prisoners have to conduct daily business, such as seeking legal counsel and notifying the courts.
Those of us on death row were prohibited for almost all of 1994 by the Department of Corrections (DOC) from corresponding with anyone who did not live in the US. There are some who work for the DOC here in Georgia who suffer from xenophobia. They resent interaction of a person on death row with someone from a foreign country because it is foreigners who protest the most vehemently against capital punishment.
For the last eight of my 20 years on Georgia's death row I have written the "Looking out" column. Recently, my editor informed me that the contributions I mail to him are not arriving on time, if at all.
There is a problem with incoming mail as well. A number of my foreign correspondents have questioned me recently, wanting to know why I have not answered their letters. The reason is that I have not received their letters.
On some occasions, prison staff throw away both incoming and outgoing correspondence. Officials admit to doing that when letters and packages for prisoners bear no return name and address.
I believe the stamp restriction is unconstitutional and that discarding and in other ways interfering with prisoners' mail is illegal. I have submitted official grievances about these issues, complaining from the lowest to the highest level of authority at both the DOC and the prison, all to no avail.
I have presented my complaints to the corrections commissioner himself, via registered and certified letters which require the addressee to sign a return receipt. In April, the staff tried to block the mailing of my first letter to the commissioner for several days by acting as if they did not know that I wanted the letter mailed. It is now October and I have received no return receipt.
Unacceptable policies and behaviour by the DOC administration and the GD&CP staff toward prisoners are bolstered by their belief that the abuse of constitutional rights will not be noticed or responded to by anyone outside the prison. Please help me to prove otherwise.
If people inundate the DOC with messages, it will be clear that the community is aware of what is going on. The DOC is then likely to be reluctant to allow this unacceptable behaviour to continue.
If you would like to help, please express your personal view regarding the prison's stamp restriction and handling of mail to: Corrections commissioner Jim Wetherington, Georgia Department of Corrections, 2 Martin Luther King Jr Drive, South East, East Tower, 7th Floor, Atlanta, Georgia 30334-4900. You can also send your message to <http://averyd00@dcor.state.ga.us>.
Please mail me a copy of your message. Include your full name and return address on the front of the envelope, otherwise the staff may not deliver it to me. I will write each respondent a note of appreciation.
Please do not, by your silence, allow them to take away our First Amendment rights.
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He welcomes letters commenting on his columns (include your name and full return address on the envelope, or prison authorities may refuse to deliver it). He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G3-63, Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA.]