ACLU Scores Free Speech For North Carolina Prison Inmates

The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) recently announced its victory in a federal lawsuit filed in February of last year.  The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Victor L. Martin, who has received critical acclaim for publishing literary works in the increasingly popular "ubran fiction" genre while incarcerated over the past decade.  Unnamed officials of the North Carolina Department of Correction were alleged to have violated Martin's Constitutional First Amendment right to free speech by unfairly disciplining the author for writing urban fiction.   The lawsuit also alleges that the defendants had destroyed a 310-page, handwritten manuscript without providing any prior due process.

Plaintiff attorney, Swain Wood, noted, "Writing books is not a crime.  The First Amendment guarantees that.  After being put in prison, Victor Martin discovered that writing books could transform his life for the better and inspire others.  He should be commended for that.  State officials should be commended for realizing that punishing Mr. Martin for writing books was wrong, and that the old policy was unconstitutional and had to be changed."

The ACLU-NCLF dismissed it's lawsuit after a settlement was agreed last week.  The settlement requires that the DOC must adjust its policies to allow inmates to prepare creative works for publication, outside typing, copyrighting or private use.  Inmates will still not be allowed to collect direct compensation for publication, but will be able to assign a family member to handle business aspects and receive compensation.  The DOC is also to arrange new policies for proper procedures when confiscating manuscripts due to prison rule violations.  These procedures include ensuring that such a manuscript would not be destroyed.

Martin commented, "I hope that my fellow inmates will understand that positive actions bring positive results.  I personally take no credit for the policy change.  The credit goes to the [ACLU-NCLF and cooperating attorney] Swain Wood for taking this case and helping to change the writing policy for all inmates.  I will continue to write within the guidelines of this new policy, and I also wish to thank all of my supporters."