ACLU and Prison Law Office Challenge Prison Over Policy Barring Inmates' Access to Internet Content

Clement v. California Department of Corrections
For Immediate Release: August 7, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO – In a landmark case, the ACLU of Northern California and the Prison Law Office are representing Pelican Bay prisoner Frank Clement in his federal court challenge to a policy prohibiting inmates at the prison from receiving any mail that contains material printed from the Internet. The national law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop is acting as cooperating attorneys in the case.

“This case is not about whether prisoners should be allowed to surf the Internet or have access to particular kinds of content,” says Ann Brick, staff attorney with ACLU-NC. “This is about barring prisoners’ access to information simply because it was downloaded from the Internet. A policy like this is completely out of step with the way people communicate with each other and obtain information today. It is no more rational than a policy requiring that all letters be typed on a typewriter instead of being produced on a word processor.”

Under the policy, prisoners may receive a clipping of a story from the New York Times by mail, but not a copy of an identical story from the online version; they are prohibited from receiving a copy of an email from a family member, but may receive a handwritten version of the same message. Pieces of mail are classified as contraband simply because they were printed from the Internet.

Information from a website about HIV/ AIDS, Bible study material, materials about parole schedules and college financial aid, and information about prison rape are all banned if printed from the Internet.

 “Prisoners can be barred from receiving timely information that is crucial to their health, education, religion or the process of an appeal,” says Heather MacKay, an attorney with the Prison Law Office in San Quentin. “Sometimes, this information is only available online, or can only be obtained offline at a later date or at additional cost.”

“There are plenty of laws that regulate the kinds of content and the volume of material that prisoners may receive,” says Robert Mittelstaedt, an attorney with Pillsbury Winthrop. “This regulation discriminates against persons who use the Internet and want to download information of interest to prisoners and send it to them by the mail.”       

Policies like Pelican Bay’s are currently in place in San Quentin State Prison; Avenal State Prison; California Correctional Center in Susanville; California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi; California State Prison, Sacramento; Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown; and Wasco State Prison.