Missouri Dept. of Corrections Censors Issue of The Economist Because of KKK Photo
Prisoners in Missouri who read The Economist may not have received the June 29th issue because the Missouri Department of Corrections believed the issue contained material that could incite violence.
According to a letter sent by the Missouri Department of Corrections to The Economist the issue "1.constitutes a threat to the security or discipline of the institution; 2. may facilitate or encourage criminal activity; or 3. may interfere with the rehabilitation of an offender."
Read the letter below:
You may be wondering what was in the July 29th issue of The Economist that could possibly have met any of the three conditions outlined above. The letter from the Missouri Department of Corrections mentions a page in the issue where this article about the Supreme Court's ruling on voting rights and college admissions appears. A photo of a KKK member holding a noose runs alongside the article.
Interestingly, the issue of The Economist that was censored also included this article on prison reform, which argues that Attorney General Eric Holder's recent announcement that federal prosecutors will no longer pursue mandatory minimums for many non-violent drug offenders is a good start but doesn't go far enough.
