Florida Withdraws Rule Proposal to Ban Prisoner Internet Presence

By David Reutter

The Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) has withdrawn a proposed administrative rule that would have prohibited prisoners from using any form of Internet. The proposed rule was withdrawn after three prisoner rights advocacy organizations warned the FDOC it could face litigation for violating the First Amendment.

Florida prisoners have limited computer access. Computers are only available for prisoner clerks in locations such as the chapel, library or education departments. To save money, the FDOC has placed computers in the law library to perform legal research. GED computer labs are also available in some prisons. Access to computers is available in the prison industry PRIDE, too.

Those computers are isolated PCs that lack internet connections. Prisoner in PRIDE have limited inter-company server access, but their activities are highly monitored and limited. The proposed rule was meant to solidify current FDOC to assure prisoners cannot access social media.

“They could be harassing or speaking to victims, all sorts of things,” said FDOC spokesperson Misty Cash. “Inmates are not supposed to have Internet access anyway, so social media is definitely a no-no.”
The proposed rule published on July 29, 2013 provided prisoners “are prohibited from establishing or maintaining an account or any other presence on any other internet website.” It prohibited a “proxy” from establishing the account that would post information about a prisoner.

“They do not have email access now,” said Cash. “We want to make sure nobody says, “well… it’s not in a rule anywhere.’ Having rules in place is something we can point to… it’s just an added backup.”

In August 2013, the Florida Justice Institute (FJI) wrote FDOC to object to the proposed rule on constitutional grounds. “It would constitute an overbroad and unnecessary curtailment on inmates’ First Amendment rights, as well as the rights of individuals who wish to publish correspondence from inmates on the Internet,” wrote FJI attorney Dante Trevisani. The rule would have censored “political commentary, complaints about abuse, possibly unflattering depictions of prion conditions, personal essays or memoirs, news stories, poetry, fiction, artwork, information about their appeals, proclamations of innocence or pleas for a sentence commutation.

The ACLU of Florida and the Florida Institutional Legal Services Project joined FJI in its protest. FDOC has withdrawn the rule “for some tweaking and adjustment.”

Source: www.thefloridacurrent.com

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