Quote:
Originally Posted by astrangerhere
In my state, for example, everything from How to Draw Birds to Fifty Shades of Gray are banned. Sure, there is also a ton of stuff on the list that is pornography or clearly violent, etc. But I do know that the list is not static. A warden can see a book come in and decide only after the prisoner has paid for it that it is going on the banned list. It is confiscated and the prisoner doesn't get his book or his money back.
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In Canadian prisons, a prisoner wanting to make a purchase from outside the prison has to have the purchase pre-approved. Books from retailers, book clubs and publishers are allowed and must be shipped directly to the prison -- if they are not banned for various reasons. Books from other sources are not permitted though your relatives/friends/whomever can pay the retailer, etc. to have books shipped to you.
Given the number of drug overdoses and overdose deaths in Canadian prisons, the sheer number of people willing to stand up on their hind legs and scream that any policy that attempts to make drugs harder to obtain and reduce the number of overdose deaths is violating the prisoners' civil rights are more than a trifle amusing to me. Oddly, many of that number overlap with those who insist self-destructive behaviours such as drunk driving and smoking need to be banned. Evidently drunkards and smokers can have their civil rights violated "for their own good".