First Amendment Victory In Landmark Prison Internet Case


For Immediate Release: September 11, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO – A U.S. district court judge has ruled that prisoners have a First Amendment right to receive mail that contains material printed from the Internet and entered a permanent injunction barring the California Department of Corrections from "enforcing any policy prohibiting California inmates from receiving mail that contains Internet-generated information."

The landmark case Clement v. California Department of Corrections was brought on behalf of Pelican Bay prisoner Frank Clement by the ACLU of Northern California and the Prison Law Office. Clement filed a federal court challenge to the California Department of Corrections policy prohibiting inmates at the prison from receiving any mail that contains material printed from the Internet.

"Denying prisoners the right to surf the Internet is one thing," said Ann Brick, staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California. "But denying them the ability to receive copies of material from the Internet is completely out of step with the way people communicate with each other and obtain information today."

Under the current 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.

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.

The national law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop is acting as cooperating attorneys in the case.