On April 2, 2014, the ACLU of Kansas received a letter from an inmate in the Allen County Jail in Iola, Kansas. The inmate complained that his request to subscribe to newspapers or magazines had been denied. The jail’s official response to the Inmate Request Form advised the inmate that “[t]he jail does not allow newspapers or magazines no exceptions!!!!!!!”
On April 3, 2014, ACLU Legal Director Doug Bonney sent a letter to the Allen County Counselor advising that banning newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals from the jail violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
On April 8, 2014, the inmate advised the ACLU that the jail had immediately dropped the ban on inmate subscriptions to newspapers and magazines upon receipt of Legal Director Bonney’s letter. In the past two years, the ACLU has persuaded nearly a dozen Kansas jails to drop policies banning inmates from subscribing to newspapers and magazines. Since last summer, the Allen County Jail has agreed to drop its postcard-only mail policy and its policy prohibiting religious inmates from getting religious meals.
The ACLU challenged those policies as unconstitutional under the First Amendment’s speech and free exercise clauses, respectively. We appreciate Allen County’s prompt responses to our concerns.