Updates have recently been made to the policies surrounding the restrictions of publications that can be mailed to incarcerated Michiganders.
The Michigan Department of Corrections announced the establishment of a literary review committee. The committee will be in charge of reviewing the restricted publications list for inmates.
The previous review process was conducted by mailroom staff. Books that were considered in violation of the policies would then be banned from all prisons.
The department said the change came after receiving feedback on the list last year, pushing them to reduce the number of publications on the updated list
Kyle Kaminski, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said the department has made updates to the restricted publication list.
“We didn't really view this year's list as being significantly different from previous year's lists other than the fact that we did go through and actually try to remove a number of texts…we tried to approach it with a fresh set of eyes as part of this process,” he said.
Kaminski said that while they have cut down on the number of publications, safety is still the department’s top priority.
“We do need to make sure that the information that is coming into the facilities does not pose a danger to our staff does not pose a danger to the residents of our facilities, and doesn't pose a danger to the public,” he said. “We do need to have a mechanism to restrict those for the sake of safety.”
Kaminski said the list of restricted publications is now publicly available on the Department of Corrections’ website.
