ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on inmates’ use of mail, the Internet, and telephones. A long line of cases has established the principle that prison officials may place reasonable restrictions on the right to use these forms of communication. Prison officials have given two general reasons for these restrictions: maintaining prison security and the orderly administration of prisons. This chapter discusses the three most significant Supreme Court cases that dealt with the issue of the postal service: Procunier v. Martinez, Turner v. Safley, and Thornburgh v. Abbott. Other topics discussed in this chapter include communication with prisoners in other institutions, receipt of inflammatory or obscene materials via the mail, receipt of books and packages, and the right to make phone calls to family and friends. The final topic in this chapter, use of the Internet and e-mail, is a relatively new area of litigation.