Missouri Dept. of Corrections Censors Issue of The Economist Because of KKK Photo

Credit: The Economist Newspaper Limited/wikimedia

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.

Comments

[Hugh Akston]

Any article about race that includes a photo of a lynch mob from 60+ years ago just has to be a thoughtful and evenhanded exploration of the subtleties of the issue.

[tarran]

It's the *modern* Economist. I doubt any of the writers or editors they have now are the same guys writing for it 15 years ago.

[PS]

That ship sailed around 2006 when Micklethwait took over. A pity, I used to read it cover to cover back in the nineties.

[Jam]

it was a great mainstream English language newspaper with a pro market, non US view of the world. it helps to take the red white and blue goggles off.

[PS]

Yes. It made mistakes, such as supporting the invasion of Iraq, but it was still the best rag in the world.

[Libertymike]

Any time a corrections department censors an issue of a periodical, it must be a rational, thoughtful exercise of state power.

[Killazontherun]

No, this isn't a party beholden to extremist. Not at all.

Cuomo Won't Accompany Obama At Fracking Hotbed Sites In Upstate NY

http://washington.cbslocal.com.....pstate-ny/

Gov. Andrew Cuomo will avoid a potentially dicey political conflict by not accompanying President Barack Obama to parts of upstate New York roiled over the state's ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

Obama supports the technology as an economic windfall that helps make the country more energy independent. He's expected to find supporters as well as protesters from environmental groups when he visits Syracuse and Binghamton late this week. Parts of central New York and the Southern Tier are on the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation, where energy companies want to drill with the promise of a boom to the long economically distressed area.

[Stormy Dragon]

What I really don't get is why they bothered to write a letter about it to the magazine. Do they seriously think The Economist is going start changing their entire magazine around just because some jail in Missouri is unhappy with their graphic design?

[PapayaSF]

Too much time on their hands.

I thought that prisons just used scissors to snip out anything they didn't want to give to the prisoners.

[MappRapp]

lol, why black folk always gotta go make a big ole "Black Thang" out of everything?

http://www.Anon-Prime.tk