Are All Prisoner Influences Evil, or Is Michigan Overreaching?

The very nature of prison lends itself to some prisoners influencing other prisoners. Those who have been in prison for a long time often talk about the days "behind the wall" (a reference to the old, now closed, Jackson prison). They reminisce about older prisoners "schooling" the younger prisoners in how to do their time. They'd teach them about what, and who, to avoid, how to spend their time constructively, and how ensure they had the best chance to leave prison as soon as possible. 

Of course, what these prisoners rarely talk about are the other lessons some older prisoners taught. These other lessons weren't constructive. They things like taught how to manipulate the system to gain advantage, or to make money or increase status. 

Prison has changed a lot since those days, but some prisoners still influence other prisoners, both for good and bad. The prison administration's job is to discern between the two and do what they can to stop the bad influences. At least that's their job in theory. 

Sadly, it's too much work to use discernment, so prison officials often invent blanket rules that serve to stifle all influence, whether bad or good. One such recent over-reaction is the response of some prison administrators towards prisoners' writings. 

One constructive way prisoners can spend their time is by writing. Some prisoners write poetry, others stories, and still others essays on politics, prisons, and people. I know one prisoner, Bruce, who has written and published twelve books. He discovered the value of education, and after struggling to find out how to attend college in prison, he wrote a book to help other prisoners do the same. He's followed this same pattern - figure out how to help himself, then write for others to do the same - for almost two decades now. 

Bruce inspired me to pursue my own college degree in prison, which I completed nearly two years ago, but he also inspired me to write. I've written and published a book (Insider's Guide to Prison Life), and I've written to this blog for over eleven years now. I've also written many essays, stories, and poetry, some of which have been published by various organizations. 

But in a classic over-reaction to prisoners "influencing other prisoners," prison officials, at least at Parnall Correctional Facility, have decided that prisoner authors cannot receive any copies of their own published works. They claim this would provide prisoners a way to influence other prisoners, even when that influence has a strong probability of being a positive influence. 

The federal courts weighed in on the potential for prisoners to influence other prisoners. In 1990, in *Martin v. Rison*, the court ruled that prisoner authors (and other "big wheel" prisoners) "could provide good role models for other prisoners." In fact, this is the same conclusion Director Washington came to when she determined to use some of us prisoners who earned our bachelors degrees as "role models" in other prisons. 

The same court further determined that prisoners' published works "have an immediate benefit to prisoners as a means of rehabilitation and as a 'nonviolent means to defuse tensions within a prison." When a "big wheel" prisoner uses his or her influence in negative ways, prison administrators have mechanisms in place to stop and punish such behavior, but again, that requires using common sense and discernment. 

In what appears to contradict Director Washington's intentions to encourage positive role models among prisoners, Parnall Correctional Facility staff continue to unconstitutionally stop prisoner authors from receiving copies of their published works. Administrators then rubber stamp such blatantly unconstitutional actions. Instead of investing their energies into stopping real, and often blatant, problems, prison staff invent problems and then pour their energy into "stopping" them. It's a massive waste of government resources. 

It's yet unclear whether or not the department will stop this unconstitutional behavior, or if the courts will have to get involved to protect prisoners' rights to receive copies of their own published works. Stay tuned.