Prison Legal News, a non-profit monthly publication that reports on criminal justice-related issues and a project of the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), filed this lawsuit in in the United State District Court for the Eastern District of California in April 2011. According to the complaint, Sacramento County jail officials refused to deliver PLN's monthly publication to prisoners and failed to notify PLN of that censorship in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Jail officials argued that the publication presented a hazard because it has staples and mailing lables or stickers.

On March 8, 2012, Judge John Mendez entered a preliminary injunction against the jail, noting the jail officials' "exaggerated response to any security concerns posed by PLN."

On July 16, 2012, the parties reached a settlement and the judge issued a Consent Decree. The decree stated that the "Florida Department of Corrections is permanently enjoined from censoring Prison Legal News' written communications without due process of law. To comply with due process of law, this permanent injunction modifies the Florida Department of Corrections' current notification procedures as follows: (1) The Florida Department of Corrections must notify Prison Legal News when it first impounds a particular written communication by Prison Legal News. (2) The notification must specify the prison rule, including the subsection, purportedly violated and must indicate the portion of the communication that allegedly violates the cited regulation. (3) The Florida Department of Corrections does not have to notify Prison Legal News when copies of that same written communication are subsequently impounded, unless the subsequent impoundment decision is based on a different or additional reason not already shared with Prison Legal News. (4) The Florida Department of Corrections' Literature Review Committee must notify Prison Legal News of any final determination regarding written communication by Prison Legal News. (5) The Literature Review Committee's notification must provide the basis for its decision, including the specific prison rule violated and the portion of the communication that violates the cited regulation. (6) The Florida Department of Corrections does not have to notify Prison Legal News when copies of that same written communication are subsequently rejected, unless the subsequent rejection decision is based on a different or additional reason not already shared with Prison Legal News."

All claims in this case have been adjudicated and the case is now closed.

Denise Heberle - 03/09/2012
Erin Pamukcu - 02/07/2016


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