CRANSTON, R.I.—A civil liberties group is questioning whether the state Department of Corrections punished an inmate who challenged a prison mail policy as unconstitutional.
The policy was announced last year but has since been rescinded amid opposition from the inmate and the state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The policy required inmates to get prior approval from prison staff before ordering books and magazine subscriptions. It also required prisoners to order the subscriptions directly from a publisher instead of having friends and family do it for them. Prison officials said they wanted to prevent inmates from extorting items from each other.
Jason Cook, an inmate serving a seven-year sentence for breaking and entering, argued that the policy was unconstitutional. The ACLU took up his case.
Cook was later placed in segregation at the Adult Correctional Institutions. Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island ACLU, said Cook was disciplined for the first time in more than two years at the ACI soon after his concerns were brought to the prison's attention.
But Tracey Poole, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, said the punishment had nothing to do with his opposition to the mail policy.
She said the department rescinded the policy after deciding it wasn't worth the "expense and energy of litigation."
"We are a thoughtful and reasonable agency and while there are some things we don't or won't compromise on, when it is prudent to do so we will weigh the interest of parties," Poole said.
Brown said the mail policy was unnecessary and he was pleased the department had dropped it.
"Nobody is served by making it difficult for inmates to exercise their First Amendment," he said.
