On March 28, 2013, the ACLU received a letter from an inmate at the Vernon County Jail in Nevada, Missouri, complaining about a policy banning all newspapers and other periodicals from the jail. Because that policy is a blatant violation of the First Amendment right of prisoners to receive information, Legal Director Doug Bonney immediately called the jail and scheduled a visit with the inmate for Monday, April 1.
After visiting the inmate and returning to the office that day, Legal Director Doug Bonney faxed a letter to Vernon County Sheriff Jason Mosher indicating that the jail’s ban on newspapers and other periodicals was unconstitutional and demanding that the jail drop the unconstitutional policy by Friday morning, April 5, or face a lawsuit.
On April 4, the jail’s lawyer contacted Legal Director Bonney, and the jail agreed to drop the ban on inmate subscriptions. From now on, inmates at the Vernon County Jail will be able to receive subscription materials – including newspapers and magazines – directly from publishers.
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