The Tamms C-Max (Control-Maximum Security) in Illinois is
censoring the newspaper MIM Notes, books sent in as part of
MIM's Free Books for Prisoners program, and correspondence
from individual prisoners. The prison has generally not
disclosed why it stopped certain materials.
We fear that the mailroom staff is capriciously discarding
mail, especially mail to and from MIM and Men Against
Control Segregation (MACS). MACS organizes against the
abuses of control-unit facilities.
Control units like Tamms are prisons under permanent lock
down. Prisoners typically spend 23 hours of every day alone
in a 6' by 8' cell. Beatings by guards are common. Control
units are designed to isolate prisoners -- stopping contact
with the outside in one way this happens.
Illinois prisons have a history of censorship. Tamms, for
example, banned the receipt of reading material from
friends and family members. Prisoners in Illinois are
waging a class action lawsuit against this kind of
censorship.
MIM is calling on all readers to protest the censorship by
Tamms officials and throughout the IDOC. You can address
complaints to:
*Warden George C. Welborn 200 East Supermax Road P.O. Box
400 Tamms, IL 62988
*Director Donald Snyder, Jr. Illinois Department of
Corrections 1301 Concordia Court Springfield, IL 62794
*Governor George Ryan Office of the Governor 207 Statehouse
Springfield, IL 62706
Please send MIM a copy of all protest letters you send.
Maoist Internationalist Movement
PO Box 29670
Los Angeles CA 90029-0670
[email protected]
www.etext.org/Politics/MIM
