Posted on May 24, 2019 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
The latest prison-system book drama: Arizona officials are under fire from activists for banning Chokehold: Policing Black Men in state correction facilities.
Chokehold, written by former federal prosecutor and current Georgetown University Professor Paul Butler, examines the systematic injustices of the prison system and advocates certain reforms.
Officials say the book contains “unauthorized content,” according to NPR; prison policies forbid inmates from reading material that could incite a riot or that contains “unacceptable sexual or hostile behavior.”
But Butler counters that nothing in it poses a threat to prison employees.
“My book wants to transform society in the same non-violent way that people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King have created change," he told NPR.
The ACLU has sent a letter in opposition to the ban to Arizona officials, and at least one Arizona lawmaker is in support of allowing the book in prisons.
In the meantime, the Arizona Department of Corrections is reviewing the book and will respond to the ACLU after that’s finished.
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Categories: Today in Books