A federal judge has tossed out a Ventura County jail policy limiting prisoners to postcard mail, Courthouse News Service reports.
The September ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Prison Legal News.
The county said it adopted a postcard only regulation in October 2010 to “reduce the risks to the security of our jails and increase the efficient flow of mail to inmates.”
The county claimed innocent-looking letters could be used to introduce contraband and send coded information about gang activities.
Prison Legal News argued the county’s policy unconstitutionally restricted its distribution and correspondence mailed to prisoners and pre-trial detainees.
U.S. district Judge George King approved a settlement between the county and Prison Legal News that ended the postcard-only policy.
The jailers can no longer refuse to deliver correspondence, catalogs and subscription order forms. Jailers cannot refuse to deliver material that was Xeroxed, photocopied or printed from the Internet and cannot prohibit inmates from ordering books, magazines or other publications.
Inmates will be allowed publications that contain sexually suggestive content unless “the publications contain images of fully exposed genitalia, buttocks or female breasts and/or graphic depictions of sexual acts.”
As part of the settlement, the county agreed to pay Prison Legal News $350,000 for damages and fees.
Prison Legal News was represented by Ernest Galvan and Brian Vogel.
