The Wisconsin Department of Corrections is restricting the delivery of used books to people incarcerated in state prisons, as part of an effort to restrict drug inflow into prisons.
This comes a month after a Waupan Correctional Institution employee plead guilty to smuggling drugs into the prison. At least two dozen prison employees have been caught smuggling contraband into state prisons since 2019.
Mario Koran, investigative reporter at Wisconsin Watch, talks about the new restrictions with Lake Effect. Koran says this approach has been tried in other states, including Pennsylvania and Florida, but that does not necessarily mean it will be successful.
"The evidence that this is an approach that works is a little bit underwhelming," Koran shares.
Wisconsin Books to Prisoners, a nonprofit dedicated to sending free books to prisoners, says this decision only limits access to information, while doing little to slow the flow of contraband. Emails from Wisconsin Department of Corrections to Wisconsin Books to Prisoners stated that prison officials did not say drugs were found in books coming from the organization, but were concerned "bad actors" might impersonate the organization.
"That was something Wisconsin Books to Prisoners was quite surprised at, and was presented with very little evidence that it was an actual problem before the ban was put in place," Koran says.
For more, read Koran's article at Wisconsin Watch.
