Illinois State House District 14 issued the following announcement on July 12.
House Appropriations-Public Safety and Appropriations-Higher Education committees met to conduct a joint hearing on censorship of reading materials in Illinois Correctional Facilities. Led by Higher Education Chair Rep. Carol Ammons, along with Appropriations-Public Safety Chair Rep. Kelly Cassidy, and Appropriations-Higher Education Chair Rep. La Shawn Ford, the hearing addressed an incident earlier in 2019 in which the Education Justice Project's (DP) academic materials were unexpectedly removed from the Danville Correctional Center library and denied entry for the purposes for an educational program. Upon the initial removal of material from these facilities there was outrage amongst advocates and elected officials.
"It's as if we don't expect the individuals to return to society, and we treat them as if they aren't human," said Rep. La Shawn Ford.
An IDOC policy states that all materials for inmates must be pre-approved, and in November of 2018 EJP submitted books for approval that were eventually denied for being 'divisive' without other rationale. Books refused included Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington and Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Du Bois. In January, copies that had been approved in that first process were brought to the prison for the spring semester, and suddenly seized by Danville staff for reevaluation. The course books were not returned until February 19th. Additionally, on January 28th prison staff removed roughly 200 additional books from the EJP library in Danville Correctional Center, the majority of which pertain to social struggle and race relations. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Du Bois were among books rejected by the facility.
After reading the list of books removed by EJP's director, Representative Carol Ammons commented on the severity of the issue, stating "[she] realized [Illinois] had an actual problem [with prison censorship] that may have been under the surface but had been brought forward by [the Department of Corrections' removal of EJP's materials]."
Committee members heard from three panels of witnesses: higher education proponents, legal advocates, and the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). Dr. Rebecca Ginsberg, the director of the University of Illinois, Education Justice Project (EJP), spoke along with other EJP members on
Original source can be found here.