Dictionaries Denied: Information Poverty in Michigan Prison Libraries

Abstract

In June of 2022, Michigan Department of Corrections (“MDOC”) made national news when NPR reported that non-English language dictionaries were banned in state prisons. After a public outcry, the ban on non-English dictionaries in Michigan prisons was rescinded before litigation commenced to strike it down as a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Even with the prohibition abandoned, this nefarious ban raised serious concerns about access to information and courts for incarcerated people. People who are incarcerated deserve libraries that meet both their right to read and their right to access the courts. Though barriers to information access for those who are incarcerated is not unique to Michigan, the state has a well-established pattern of censorship in prisons, despite professional library standards and protections for information access established in courts. Thus, the authors use Michigan, their home state, as a case study to discuss information access for people incarcerated in the United States.

Keywords: prison law library