Department of Corrections stops nonprofit from sending free books to Wisconsin inmates

Wisconsin Books to Prisoners was formed in the fall of 2006 through Madison’s Rainbow Bookstore. That year, the volunteer-run nonprofit started shipping the first of more than 70,000 books to the state’s inmates under the DOC’s administrative code guidelines regarding mail, according to WBTP co-founder Camy Matthay.

As of August, though, WBTP’s efforts have been halted.

In an email dated Aug. 16, DOC Administrator Sarah Cooper told WBTP officials that the DOC has seen “many instances” of drugs coming into facilities via mail, publications and books that appear to be coming from legitimate senders such as child support agencies, the IRS, the Wisconsin Public Defender’s Office, the Department of Justice and individual attorneys.

The DOC’s concerns don’t stem from WBTP itself, but rather with people who might imitate the WBTP via book mail — bad actors trafficking in drugs under the guise of distributing literature.

“Over the last several years, DOC has had to take additional, important steps to ensure the safety of our institutions, including addressing drugs entering our facilities via paper from personal letters, legal mail, and books, among other materials,” DOC spokesperson Beth Hardtke said in an email Thursday.

Bad actors in Wisconsin and elsewhere have exploited otherwise positive programs that rely on donations from the public and have historically supported people in correctional settings, she said. “Recently, for example, donated books have been among materials that have tested positive for drugs.”

Drugs making their way into prisons

Drugs have been a significant problem in Wisconsin’s prisons. In March, amid a string of deaths at Waupun Correctional Institution, Gov. Tony Evers announced a federal probe into an apparent smuggling operation involving prison employees.

Five inmates at Waupun have died since June 2023, one of whom was killed by a fentanyl overdose. Nearly a dozen Waupun Correctional Institution employees have been suspended. Nine employees, including a former warden, face a litany of charges.

The DOC has developed new protocols for distributing mail to thwart would-be imitators and their efforts to distribute drugs. Implemented in 2021, current personal mail policies dictate that all mail has to be electronically scanned. Additionally, legal mail is being vetted more carefully, details and senders’ names being carefully inspected by prison staff.

Not the first time

WBTP was first barred by the DOC in May 2008, when officials cited concerns about contraband, but the organization was let back in in early November that year with the provision that only new books would be accepted. In 2009, DOC officials denied a portion of an American Civil Liberties Union records request seeking evidence of any contraband being found in books shipped to prisons, Matthay said.

After that initial temporary ban, WBTP continued fulfilling inmates’ book requests until the organization was again banned by the DOC in 2018. That ban was overturned by the DOC within days, and at that time the project was given explicit approval to send used books (as well as new books), as long as they were clean copies free of underlining, highlighting, imprints, mildew, water damage or other flaws.

WBTP remained an approved vendor, reaffirmed by subsequent security chiefs, according to Matthay, until January 2024. In February, the DOC reaffirmed its ban on used books, citing concerns over sprayed-on narcotics and other illicit substances in used books. WBTP continued sending books and appealed the used book ban in May.

Part of rehabilitation

Moira Marquis founded Prison Banned Books Week, an initiative aimed at aiding inmates’ access to literature and other educational materials. On Thursday, Marquis called the DOC’s repeated barring of the WBTP “antithetical” to the department’s purported mission of rehabilitation.

Among the most requested of WBTP’s library are titles on industry: finding work in the trades, starting a business, entrepreneurship. It isn’t just recreational literature the inmates are losing, Matthay said.

“People inside are very nervous about their release and what they’re going to do and are they qualified for things, and they’re not being offered enough resources,” Marquis said. “How much energy and time does an all-volunteer nonprofit need to spend to just argue with the state institution that they have a right to do what their mission is?”

Inmates do have access to some titles, according to Hardtke. In addition to the libraries maintained by each prison, the department partners with educational institutions and programs that provide textbooks and other reading materials. The department is also working on the introduction of free electronic tablets that will allow inmates to access e-books, Hartdke said.

“The Department of Corrections (DOC) fully supports the educational goals and aspirations of persons in our care and believes in the power of reading to change lives and aid in rehabilitation,” she said.

Matthay is looking into ways around the ban. Providing tracking numbers for each book parcel WBTP sends is one idea.

“It’s just unfortunate that a few bad actors are preventing thousands of prisoners from getting books,” Matthay said. “There’s going to be a lot of disappointed people, a lot of really disappointed people.”