2008 Woodie Awards
Book banning is an needless violation of prisoners' rights
Samantha Koch '11
Issue date: 9/19/07 Section: Opinion
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The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently made New York Times headlines with the launching of a new program aimed at limiting the religious reading materials available to federal prison inmates. This program, known as the Standardized Chapel Library Project, involves the removal of any books, tapes, or videos that are not found on a government-created list of approved materials from the shelves of prison libraries.
Read that sentence one more time for me, please.
Upon first seeing this article, I was immediately taken aback by the idea of the federal government determining what materials were suitable to represent each of a variety of religions. According to OIG and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials, this new program is being put into effect in order to prevent the religious or political radicalization of prisoners in the federal penitentiary system.
According to prison chaplains and other groups that minister to inmates, the real reason behind the program is the government's attempt to limit prisoners' access to materials that could in any way grant them access to ideals espoused by terrorist groups. This effort, chaplains state, is largely unnecessary. All books that pass through prison walls must be thoroughly inspected by prison officials, and chaplains routinely check and remove any materials that are found to be violent and/or disparaging; additionally, many of the chaplains have complained that the list of religious materials chosen by the government is extremely limited, if not completely inadequate. Many say that this list includes few or none of the materials they would have chosen themselves.
Why the sudden route of religious censorship? The route is actually not sudden at all.
Traci Billingsley, a spokeswoman for the BOP, said that the program was being initiated in response to recommendations made by the OIG in a 2004 report, titled "A Review of the Bureau of Prisons' Selection of Muslim Religious Services Providers." Unlike the Standardized Chapel Library Project, which affected a wide array of faiths, this report dealt specifically with the screening of Muslim chaplains, volunteers, and contractors. Among its various suggestions, the OIG recommended that the Bureau ask all Muslim chaplain candidates questions about their specific religious beliefs, stating that "the responses to these questions can provide important information for the BOP to determine whether the candidates pose a security threat." An expansion of video and audio monitoring in all Muslim worship areas and classrooms was also suggested, as well as providing contractors "guidance" as to what they are and are not allowed to say as part of their messages. At the bottom of their list was a statement encouraging an inventory of chapel books confirming that materials were "permissible under BOP security policies."
Read that sentence one more time for me, please.
Upon first seeing this article, I was immediately taken aback by the idea of the federal government determining what materials were suitable to represent each of a variety of religions. According to OIG and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials, this new program is being put into effect in order to prevent the religious or political radicalization of prisoners in the federal penitentiary system.
According to prison chaplains and other groups that minister to inmates, the real reason behind the program is the government's attempt to limit prisoners' access to materials that could in any way grant them access to ideals espoused by terrorist groups. This effort, chaplains state, is largely unnecessary. All books that pass through prison walls must be thoroughly inspected by prison officials, and chaplains routinely check and remove any materials that are found to be violent and/or disparaging; additionally, many of the chaplains have complained that the list of religious materials chosen by the government is extremely limited, if not completely inadequate. Many say that this list includes few or none of the materials they would have chosen themselves.
Why the sudden route of religious censorship? The route is actually not sudden at all.
Traci Billingsley, a spokeswoman for the BOP, said that the program was being initiated in response to recommendations made by the OIG in a 2004 report, titled "A Review of the Bureau of Prisons' Selection of Muslim Religious Services Providers." Unlike the Standardized Chapel Library Project, which affected a wide array of faiths, this report dealt specifically with the screening of Muslim chaplains, volunteers, and contractors. Among its various suggestions, the OIG recommended that the Bureau ask all Muslim chaplain candidates questions about their specific religious beliefs, stating that "the responses to these questions can provide important information for the BOP to determine whether the candidates pose a security threat." An expansion of video and audio monitoring in all Muslim worship areas and classrooms was also suggested, as well as providing contractors "guidance" as to what they are and are not allowed to say as part of their messages. At the bottom of their list was a statement encouraging an inventory of chapel books confirming that materials were "permissible under BOP security policies."
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