The American Civil Liberties Union and an author are protesting the ban on a book about the treatment of black men in the criminal justice system. The book says the system singles out black men and that prison should be abolished. The author Paul Butler, a law professor and former prosecutor, says there is nothing about the book that disrupts the prison or threatens the safety of guards and inmates. (The New York Times, May 22, 2019, by Jacey Fortin)
ACLU attorney Emerson Sykes wrote that the ban would hinder attempts to understand the prison system in Arizona, its racial disparities and high rates of incarceration. “To prohibit prisoners from reading a book about race and the criminal legal system,” Sykes wrote, “is not only misguided and harmful, but also violates the right to free speech under the First Amendment of the US. Constitution and … the Arizona Constitution.” (Arizona Republic, May 22, 2019, by Maria Polletta)
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