Behind Bars: Books Banned in the USA

Colorado has a very transparent review process for prisoner reading material, with comparatively few titles being banned: According to Books to Prisoners, the cause lies in a 2004 settlement. It arose from a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against the Colorado DOC. The Human Rights Defense Center has published a list of all books censored between October 15, 2018, and September 2019, distinguishing between “fully” and “partially” censored: In that year, there were 184 titles, now added to the Kasseler Liste (enter “Colorado prisons” in the field “place of ban”).

According to information from Books to Prisoners, lists of banned books are also kept in Idaho prisons, but without mentioning the titles, so it was not possible to include them in the Kasseler Liste. An available list from 2023 primarily provides information about the prisoners (blacked out in the list) and their facility, the date of the inspection, and the “number of items” that were inspected, which then for example reveals “1 book” from Amazon.

The contrast between prison censorship practices in different US states is immense. While some states have banned over 10,000 books, the latest censorship list from the Illinois Department of Corrections dated September 2, 2022, contains just 20 titles (now included in the Kasseler Liste). A second list dated the same day contains over 250 titles designated as “disapproved” – but not banned.

Until recently, Kansas had very comprehensive censorship in prisons. At the same time, the state is an example of how protests against censorship can be effective: In 2019, the Human Rights Defense Center obtained a list of banned titles. It contains 7,431 cases of censorship, including a remarkable number of books (approx. 60%), many of which are literary classics; the rest are mainly magazines. The publication of the list in May 2019 led to protests and ultimately to the new Kansas Attorney General declaring the list obsolete and abolishing it. In its place, he introduced a new policy. This means that reading material received by prisoners via mail continues to be controlled and monitored (by the Publication Review Officers of the correctional facilities), but there is no longer an extensive official list of banned books. Control is exercised through a rather complex bureaucratic case-by-case procedure. If books are banned, an appeal can be lodged and a review carried out.

However, this does not mark the end of prison censorship in this state. Censorship decisions are documented and ultimately result in another list of banned books (see the Kansas Department of Corrections’ “Internal Management Policy & Procedure” document dated June 12, 2021).In October 2021, there were 363 titles on this list – only 5% of the original number from 2019. (By the way: PEN America itself published this narrow list in response to a FOIA request in 2023, but its related report still counts 7,699 banned titles in Kansas: https://pen.org/report/reading-between-the-bars/, see note 38.) We are including the 7,431 titles from 2019 and the 363 titles from 2021 in the Kasseler Liste. Enter “Kansas prisons” in the “country of ban” field and “2019” or ‘2021’ in the “date of ban” field.

The state of Montana apparently exercises very little prison censorship: the list uploaded by Books to Prisoners thanks to PEN America includes only 235 banned titles from 2012 to 2023. In two-thirds of cases, the reasons given for the bans relate to nudity and sexual content. The latter is most often described as “sexually explicit,” but “sex trade” and “sexual violence/abuse” also occur. Just under a fifth of the bans are justified on the grounds of “threat to security,” in addition smaller proportions citing “racial,” “true crime,” or “role playing.” We have added the 235 banned titles to the Kasseler Liste: Enter “Montana prisons” in the field “country of ban”.

Is glitter really banned in Nebraska prisons? In a list of banned books we read regarding „Manga: Glow in the Dark Coloring“ the reasoning: “falls under the glitter category.” Books to Prisoners provides this index, courtesy of The Marshall Project. The very heterogeneous compilation (whose sheets are sorted first by year, then by genre or magazine name) contains a total of 1,136 bans in Nebraska’s prisons from 2011 to 2021. Since May 2021, the NDCS has applied an Approved Vendor Policy, which the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) successfully challenged (Human Rights Defense Center v. Scott Frakes, Case No. 4:22-cv-03028). To return to the list: From 2015 onwards, “approved” titles are also listed. Old censorship decisions are systematically reviewed and, if necessary, revised in Nebraska. For example, the crime comedy “Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang” (2005) was “Previously Denied due to Procedure 205.01.01 pg 3#14 GIVEN TO INMATE PER WASMER 4/1/2020.”

Unfortunately, the frequently used phrase “reviewed and approved” leaves it unclear whether the titles in question were actually banned in the first place. In cases of doubt, they are therefore included in the Kasseler Liste and the ‘approved’ date is noted as “year ban was lifted.”

In most cases, we learn the reasons for censorship, e.g., sexual content, security risks, “gang-related material,” etc. Unique to the Nebraska list is the explicit mention of the censors’ names. These are employees of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS). Sometimes one employee ‘denies’ something that another ‘approves’ shortly thereafter: For example, refering to “Sugar Daddy,” we read: “Previously denied by Taylor 3/25/2020 due to writing to sexual excite, Ok per Busboom, can’t censor 4/7/2020).” Overall, the information provided here seems like notes made by the censors themselves and points to internal communication processes.

Sexual content is also one of the biggest issues for Nebraska censors. The January 2021 issue of Rolling Stone magazine is banned because of “page 51 Miley Cyrus exposing her breasts.” In some cases, an argument for artistic freedom seems to come through … however, the need to defend such approvals remains: “Michelangelo, complete paintings, sculptures, etc.” is permitted – “even though there is a lot of penis.”

To see the 1,136 titles in the Kasseler Liste, enter “Nebraska prisons” in the field “country of ban”.

New Hampshire operates a limited and well-documented prison censorship policy: The list, which the Human Rights Defense Center received in May 2019, can be read on the Books to Prisoners website. It includes 130 banned titles from 2014 to 2019, a quarter of which are banned because of sexual content, a third because of security concerns. They can be found in the Kasseler Liste by entering “New Hampshire prisons” under “country of ban.”

Books to Prisoners provides a list of books banned in New Jersey prisons, dated January 2023. It contains 322 entries, which can now be found in the Kasseler Liste. Previously, there was no uniform list in New Jersey, but rather censorship regimes in the various prisons. In 2018, there were protests against these sometimes arbitrary and repressive practices in the institutions. The protests were triggered by internal prison documents that were sent to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).

North Carolina publishes an updated list of titles banned in prisons every year. A list from February 2023 contains 827 titles of books, magazines, and newspapers. The “Review Date” listed there is noted as the ban date in the Kasseler Liste.

For Ohio’s prisons, there is a list from January 2022 that includes banned and permitted books. No reasons are given. Of the more than 500 titles on the list (which, incidentally, is very sketchy and contains errors), only 291 are banned from January 2018 to January 2022. The titles can be found in the Kasseler Liste by entering “Ohio prisons” under “country of ban.”

Books to Prisoners praises the fact that in the state of Oregon, a committee of information technology workers would review the bans imposed by local post offices in prisons – nevertheless, the list of titles banned in Oregon prisons in 2023 is very long: almost 2,800 titles, including guitar instruction books and a “Big Book of Sudoku.” A practice that is apparently only widely pursued in Oregon accounts for a significant proportion of this number: not only are computer materials often banned, but also office supplies, especially folders, notebooks, notepads, and sketchbooks. This is rarely explained by the material itself – “(metal spiral violation)”. Apparently, the general aim is to suppress prisoners’ ability to express themselves through writing, drawing, and painting. The bureaucratic diligence with which the various materials are recorded is almost tragicomic, when cover colors and imprints are listed separately: “Composition Notebook Cats,” “Composition Notebook Hello Kitty,” “Composition Notebook Rainbow Unicorn,” “Composition Notebook Flamingos”… Even though these are not banned books in the true sense of the word, we are including the Oregon list in its entirety in the Kasseler Liste for documentation purposes.

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections publishes a quarterly updated list of publications that are prohibited in its prisons. The list published on the official website, divided into permitted and prohibited publications, is neatly and clearly organized. This distinguishes it from the other lists available to us, which are clearly marked as internal documents.

As of October 2025, 447 titles are officially banned in Pennsylvania prisons, which we have now added to the Kasseler Liste. It should be noted, according to Books to Prisoners, that these are not all of the titles that have actually been rejected, but only those that have been reviewed separately due to a complaint from an inmate or an appeal by the publisher.

For Rhode Island, Books to Prisoners (thanks to PEN America) presents a list of banned titles from 2018 to 2023. The internal document distinguishes between three dates (“Date Rec’d,” “Date Response to the Facility,” and “Decision & Date”) and lists the prisoners to whom the books were sent, with their names (redacted in the published version). The list contains only 76 titles, of which only 39 are banned. These can now be found in the Kasseler Liste by entering “Rhode Island prisons” in the “country of ban” field.

The first known public list for South Carolina’s prisons, which the Human Rights Defense Center received in 2019, includes approximately 1,700 banned titles. It is an inaccurate list; apparently, an Excel list was incompletely converted to PDF format, resulting in some fragments. The titles themselves without any additional information are listed. Very rarely are reasons added in parentheses, as in the case of Kim Kardashian’s “Selfish” (“Sexually explicit material”). In some cases the reason for rejection is “size and weight concern,” which means that the family edition of the “Holy Bible Illuminated” is banned, as are “Africana, The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience”, and “Black’s Law Dictionary with Pronunciations”. Whether it is the internal or external weight of the publications that is feared as a weapon remains unclear. It seems remarkable that in South Carolina’s prisons, a number of FOIAs (Freedom of Information Act requests) to the US Department of Justice, specifically the FBI, have been banned. You can find the approximately 1700 banned titles on the Kasseler Liste by entering “South Carolina prisons” under “country of ban.”

Virginia has comprehensive prison censorship. In December 2020, over 4,800 titles were banned, most of them periodicals, with only about 250 books. The list, provided by Books to Prisoners thanks to PEN America, specifies the reason for the ban (criteria designated by letters) and also the exact critical pages. You can find the approximately 4,800 publications by entering “Virginia prisons” in the “country of ban” field in the Kasseler Liste.

The Washington Department of Corrections maintains a list of currently banned titles on its website. This list is well organized, contains detailed explanations, and precise dates. The status as of October 2025 – 982 titles – is included in the Kasseler Liste.

For Wisconsin, Books to Prisoners has provided a comprehensive PDF file from September 2023. For technical reasons, the approximately 5,000 titles cannot currently be included in the Kasseler Liste (poor transferability of data in Excel).

Thanks to PEN America, a list for Wyoming prisons is available on the Books to Prisoners website from October 2022. It is titled “Warden’s Publication Rejection, updated 10/26/22.” The internal Word document, which is error-ridden and hastily compiled, contains 89 titles, occasionally supplemented with explanations such as “Sexually explicit” or “Content.”