Sexual content is not for US-Prisoners: California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Michigan

Even in liberal California, there is a long list of banned publications that prisoners are not allowed to read. Moreover, in recent years this list has grown substantially: While in 2018, 950 titles were banned, in 2023 there were over 1600. It must be noted that bans are cumulative, that means that bans are added to previous bans which may not have been removed.

The list includes a large number of sex guides or books with sexual content like Kim Kardashian’s photo book “Selfish”. But it also features books about tattoos, crime fiction, martial arts weapons, drugs, and gangs, and even books on meditation or illustrated books on impressionist art.

It is noteworthy that the California list scrupulously records the pages that justify the ban under the rubric: “Pages violating CCR Section (3134.1).” The California Code of Regulations stipulates that all incoming books and periodicals must be checked. If a title is banned, this decision must be relayed to the publisher, the incarcerated person concerned, and the Division of Adult Institutions (DAI) (Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 15, § 3134.1 (d)). First and foremost, the publisher must be informed by the DAI in writing about “why the publication was added to the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications” (f).

From the west coast to the east coast: While in California prison censorship has increased significantly in recent years, another state seems to be moving in the opposite direction: Connecticut. In 2023, approximately 520 titles were banned in Connecticut prisons – significantly fewer than five years earlier, when 1,800 titles were banned. But beware, even here, the previous bans have apparently not been lifted by the new list; we are simply seeing fewer new bans.

Books to Prisoners provides both lists: the one from June 2019, obtained by the Human Rights Defense Center, as well as the one from February 2023, provided by PEN America.

An interesting feature of the Connecticut lists is a column with the “reject reason.” In almost two-thirds of the cases, the reason is sexual content: “containing pictorially explicit nudity” (27%), “containing pictorially explicit sexual activity” (11%), “containing written sexually explicit / sado-masochistic behavior” (10%), “containing written sexually explicit material involving minors” (5%), and “containing written sexually explicit material involving the use of force or non-consent” (11%). In addition, there are issues that are considered “being detrimental to security” for different reasons such as descriptions of violence, fighting techniques, escape methods, drug or weapons manufacturing.

We look to the South: Louisiana. There are three lists available, from 2018, 2019, and 2023, respectively, which are featured on Books to Prisoners under the rubric “Louisiana.” Evidently, each list is simply a revised version of the previous one, as each starts with “A Witches Bible. The Complete Witches Handbook.”

The most recent list, titled “Department Regulation, no. OP-C-7 Attachment D 08 February 2023”, contains 3,169 titles, divided into magazines, books and booklets, and (very few) CDs/DVDs and newspapers. In most cases, the reason for the ban is stated: More than 2,000 times, the reason is sexual context or “nudity” (including “exposed breasts/nipples”). Less than 250 times, the reasons are security risk, criminal activity, drugs, or weapons.

Michigan – the Midwest: We see a censorship list with prohibitions from January 1, 1996, to 2022, which was revised on December 4, 2022. Books to Prisoners provides this list on its website, with thanks to PEN America.

There are 1,218 entries, including books, magazines, and newspapers, as well as other formats: articles (66 entries), games (54 entries), reports (1), and videos (1). The “date added” (e.g. the date on which the title was entered in the list) is specified for each entry, as well as a relatively detailed and individualized “comment” explaining the reason for the ban.

For example, the magazine “Nuts and Volts” for electronics enthusiasts is banned because it “poses a threat to the security, good order, or discipline of the facility, includes detailed schematics of electronic and computer systems that can be used to create and control interactive lighting systems.”

And what about sex? In 15% of all cases, a ban is justified on these grounds, but not with sexual content in the broad sense, but with concrete depictions of sexual acts, most of which involve deviant (e.g., violent, sadistic) sexuality. The most common reason for a ban in this context is the involvement of minors.

“Nudity” in itself is not a reason for prohibition in Michigan. The word ‘nude’ appears only once: “nude pictures of children”: This is the reason why the “most thorough reference work on art anatomy in the world” (self-description) is banned for prisoners: „An Atlas of Anatomy for Artists“ was first published in 1947 as an English translation of the 6th edition of an art school textbook by Austrian painter and graphic artist Fritz Schider: „Plastisch-Anatomischer Handatlas für Akademien, Kunstschulen und zum Selbstunterricht“ (1st ed. 1898, 6th ed. 1929).