On April 26, 2018, the non-profit, Big House Books, along with two prisoners at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution (SMCI) filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Judge Daniel P. Jordan, III was assigned to the case. The plaintiffs sued SMCI and the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), alleging that the MDOC’s new policy of barring prisoners from receiving free books, unless they are religious books, was unconstitutional. More specifically, they brought this case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that this new policy was discriminatory on the basis of religious content and violated the First and the Fourteenth Amendments. Represented by the Mississippi Center for Justice and private counsel, the plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief.

The defendants were served summonses in early May 2018. On December 3, 2018, the court issued an order directing the plaintiffs to show cause by December 19, 2018 why the case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute. On the 19th, the plaintiffs entered a stipulation of their dismissal. The case is now closed.

Rebecca Strauss - 06/06/2018
Alex Moody - 04/05/2020


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