"The Books That Prison Officials Don’t Want Chelsea Manning to Read"

RallyPoint Shared Content — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 09:34:06 -0400

Chelsea Manning may be sent to solitary confinement for reading the Vanity Fair mag on Caitlyn Jenner. What should she have been reading instead?

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From: The Atlantic

Last month, prison officials discovered contraband in Chelsea Manning’s cell: books and magazines considered to be “prohibited reading material.” Her potential punishment? Solitary confinement.

On Tuesday night, Manning, the U.S. soldier convicted in 2013 of giving classified government information to WikiLeaks, tweeted the punishment a prison board handed her for possessing the items: “21 days of restrictions on recreation” which means “no gym, library, or outdoors.”

Manning, who previously was known as Bradley Manning, identifies as a woman. She is serving a 35-year sentence at an all-male, maximum-security military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Officials confiscated 22 books and magazines, which included a novel about transgender women, the Caitlyn Jenner issue of Vanity Fair magazine, Malala Yousafzai’s memoir, and the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Torture.

None of these [books], Manning’s lawyer argued last week, constitute “a national security issue.” The issue of security, however, is often used to determine approved and prohibited reading material in federal and state prisons across the country. Federal Bureau of Prisons regulations state publications can be confiscated and banned if they are found “to be detrimental to the security, good order, or discipline of the institution or if it might facilitate criminal activity." Prisons can’t reject a publication “solely because its content is religious, philosophical, political, social, sexual, or...unpopular or repugnant.”

But determining which books are considered safe and which are dangerous is, as you might expect, highly subjective. And not every prison in America interprets federal guidelines in the same way. As Andrew Losowsky reported in The Huffington Post in 2011:

"… many correctional institutions censor materials far beyond these guidelines. Central Mississippi Correctional, for example, is stated as refusing to allow any books whose content includes anything legal, medical or contains violence, while Staunton Correctional in Virginia is claimed only to allow its inmates access to "non-fiction educational or spiritual books."

There are plenty more examples. Losowsky points to a 2011 report by the Texas Civil Rights Project, which called the state prison system’s censorship of some authors— including Shakespeare, Sojourner Truth, George Orwell, and Jon Stewart—“arbitrary” and “bizarre.” One correctional facility in South Carolina denied access to most books and magazines for several years until the American Civil Liberties Union sued it and won in 2012. In 2013, National Journal’s Matt Berman reported the Connecticut Bureau of Corrections had banned the July 22, 2013, issue of The New Yorker, which included a story on domestic abuse, and the September copy of Slam Magazine, with LeBron James on the cover, citing "safety and security” reasons. The bureau did add some books to its approved list: George R.R. Martin’s popular novels, but not the first one in the series, A Game of Thrones.

The Leavenworth facility where Manning is serving her sentence could not be reached for comment about its list of approved and prohibited reading material. According to the prison’s inmate information handbook, inmates “have the right to a wide range of reading materials...for educational purposes and your own enjoyment,” which “may include magazines and newspapers sent from the community, with certain restrictions.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/08/chelsea-manning-books-reading-prison/401801/

The Books and Magazines Prison Officials Don't Want Chelsea Manning to Read

The U.S. soldier convicted of leaking classified information has been found guilty of violating rules for permitted reading material.

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Aug 20 at 2015 9:40 AM

SCPO David Lockwood — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 09:40:49 -0400

Now I've seen everything!

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 20 at 2015 10:49 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 10:49:47 -0400

Why does it matter that it was just only a Vanity Fair mag. If it is on the no no list, then it is prohibited reading material. Here is my question though....if that mag is on the prison ban list, how did he get it in the first place. He/She (whatever) is in prison for a reason. That facility is not Club Med nor Burger King. He dont get things his way.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Aug 20 at 2015 12:29 PM

SN Greg Wright — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 12:29:16 -0400

Meh. People had the potential to die because of what this person did. So I don't care if he rots in solitary for his entire term.

As for why I'm (deliberately) calling this TG person 'he'? I think this was a ploy, nothing more, for him to get attention. A way for him to remain in the spotlight. I don't believe it's genuine, and I think it hurts the cause for genuinely TG people.

Response by MAJ Keira Brennan made Aug 20 at 2015 1:03 PM

MAJ Keira Brennan — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 13:03:51 -0400

Sucks to be Private Manning. Im a gay woman and very adamate about LGBTQ rights. But Private Manning is a TRAITOR. Private Manning is missing out on HISTORIC changes/evolution ib the military because of her own traitorous acts. Suck it up.

Response by SSG Warren Swan made Aug 20 at 2015 1:19 PM

SSG Warren Swan — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 13:19:23 -0400

And on 20 Aug 15 at 1320 eastern time, not a single, solitary, f*ck was given. You did the crime, do the time.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Aug 21 at 2015 6:35 AM

PO1 John Miller — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 06:35:07 -0400

And we're supposed to care why???

Response by PO3 David Bigbey made Aug 21 at 2015 1:01 PM

PO3 David Bigbey — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 13:01:36 -0400

Its simple, the punishment for being a traitor is death. It's one of the oldest laws we have in this nation. Its not open to interpretation. No dispute or argument it is what it is pretty black and white.