Florida prison rejects letters from reporter asking about strike activity

A Florida prison last week refused to allow two men to read letters mailed by a Times-Union reporter asking them about nonviolent strike activity, raising questions about the First Amendment rights of those incarcerated in the state correctional system.

Officials at Okeechobee Correctional Institution, northwest of Port St. Lucie, rejected the letters, which asked questions about whether inmates had participated in strike activity and if they were retaliated against for doing so. The letters were determined to pose a “threat to the security, order, or rehabilitative objectives of the correctional system, or the safety of any person,” according to a form included in the returned mail.

After reviewing the correspondence, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections today said the letters were "rejected in error." The letters were sent in Times-Union-marked envelopes and clearly marked as being from a reporter.

The Times-Union wrote to the two men because their names appeared in mailings about the September 2016 prison strikes.

One of the men contacted by the Times-Union was the apparent author of a testimonial that was featured in a brochure about the strikes compiled by the activist group Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons and sent to inmates in Florida facilities. The other man was the recipient of a related mailing, but it's unclear who sent it.

The brochure and the mailing were included among some 30 pages of strike-related brochures and social media posts returned through a public records request to Florida Legal Services, a nonprofit litigation firm. The firm then provided the documents to the Times-Union.

In the brochure provided to the Times-Union, check marks appeared next to the names of inmates who offered testimonials about the prison strikes. The group that compiled the mailings said the markings were added by the Department of Corrections. A check mark also appeared next to the name of man who received the related mailing. It's unclear at this time when exactly the department intercepted the materials.

The Times-Union was mailing inmates to ask about retaliation because unconfirmed reports of such treatment by corrections officials often surfaces following prison strikes. The newspaper is not naming the inmates out of concerns for their safety.

Amy Fettig, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project, said the rejection of the letters amounts to a “clear overreaction to the perceived threat of prisoners speaking out against their conditions.”

“That’s the very reason why we have First Amendment rights in the first place,” Fettig said. “What they’re asking for is a media blackout, and that is simply not allowed."

The man featured in a testimonial included in the brochure wrote briefly about his belief that the exception clause of the 13th Amendment, which permits unpaid labor for those convicted of crimes, should be abolished.

He questioned whether any effort to achieve such an effect would be successful from inside prisons, whether it was taken through violent or nonviolent protest. In fact, the man underscored that violence would be counterproductive to that end. He also expressed skepticism about the activist group.  

“I shall see one way or another if you at this particular organization are really serious about what you claim to be about,” the man wrote.

The letter from the Times-Union noted that the man was transferred from Franklin Correctional Institute, where he was housed when strike activity occurred in September 2016, several months after the incident, and asked if that move was related in any way to his inclusion in the brochure or other communications about strike activity

The other man contacted by the Times-Union was not mentioned in the brochure, but was included in the public records that were returned to Florida Legal Services. The man appeared with a check mark next to his name and a clipping of what appeared to be a small piece of paper that was mailed to him.

The mailing read, “SEEDS: WILL GROW ANYWHERE” and “PLANT TODAY.” The Times-Union letter to the man asked whether a placement in administrative confinement and his transfer to Okeechobee had anything to do with the mailing. It also asked whether he participated in the September 2016 strikes and whether he was retaliated against for doing so.

Times-Union Editor Mary Kelli Palka said: "Journalism isn't a security threat or anything similar. We have to be able to ask questions of participants or witnesses to events, including inside prisons."

Ben Conarck: 904-359-4103