March 31, 2022 | Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
IDS
IU continues to deny access to sexual assault records By Cate Charron
catcharr@iu.edu | @catecharron
For a second time, IU denied the Indiana Daily Student access to parts of student Chris Parker's disciplinary record involved in the 'Dissonance in due process' investigation. The Indiana Public Access Counselor said in its Jan. 31 opinion the university violated public access laws in its first refusal.
The IDS obtained a 2016 suspension letter in August 2021, which found Parker responsible for a sexual assault after a Title IX investigation and hearing process. Since the IDS obtained this document, the university said in an email it could deny the newsroom’s request. The document contained the records requested, so the university said it did not need to relay the requested information
because the IDS was already in possession of the information. "We are aware that IDS already obtained these three pieces of information," the email said. "Because IDS is already in possession of the three pieces of information discussed in the Opinion, no further disclosure is necessary or appropriate in response to your request." The IDS first requested
IU spokesperson Chuck Carney and the Office of the General Counsel on March 23 to ask for the specific legal citations used as reasoning for the university denying the request. The IDS has not received a response as of Monday. For the latest denial, the university said it considers the case closed. The IDS will continue to press for the requested information.
violation and any sanction imposed on the student. After the university initially denied access to these records in October 2021, the IDS reported the situation to the Public Access Counselor, who accepts complaints regarding issues and violations of public access laws. The office said IU violated the Access to Public Records Act when denying the request. The IDS reached out to
Parker’s disciplinary record in an open records request Sept. 14, 2021. IU is a public university, meaning it is subject to the Access to Public Records Act. The request cited Indiana Code and an exemption to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. For “crimes of violence” or “nonforcible sex offenses,” the FERPA exemption allows an institution to release the name of the student in question, the
‘In prison, knowledge is power’
How publications are restricted in Indiana prisons By Kaitlyn Radde
kradde@iu.edu | @kaityradde
W
hen Shaka Shakur was transferred from an Indiana Department of Corrections prison to one in Virginia in 2018, the law books he used to help himself and other prisoners work on their appeals should have been in his cell waiting for him. They weren't. Shakur is a co-founder of the New Afrikan Liberation Collective, a group mainly comprised of Indiana prisoners who seek Black liberation. He has ongoing litigation in Indiana, and for him and prisoners like him, being transferred away without his home state’s law books can make it difficult or impossible to meet legal deadlines and continue working on your own case. Shakur, 55, was convicted of attempted murder of a Gary, Indiana, police officer in 2004, which he says is a wrongful conviction. After spending nearly 20 years of his 63-year sentence in Indiana, he was transferred to Virginia under an agreement between state prison systems that allows them to send their prisoners to other states. Shakur described the move as domestic exile, and he said he was transferred as a punishment for his political activities inside the prison. In an email, IDOC Chief Communications Officer Annie Goeller said Shakur was transferred after stabbing an IDOC staff member. He said he’s spent a lot of time in segregation — or solitary confinement — and a lot of time reading. Books play an important role in his life on the inside, providing him information about the outside world and connecting him to other incarcerated people via study groups he’s been a part of at multiple facilities. But in Indiana and in Virginia prisons alike, Shakur said he’s had trouble getting and keeping books. In February, he was rereading “Wretched of the Earth” by Frantz Fanon. This book, and most of the books he reads, are about decolonization, patriarchy, abolition and Black history, topics geared toward educating and politicizing himself and other prisoners. And topics which he and others said are sometimes
“They were denying us history books on Malcolm X and George Jackson, but you go to the library and you’ve got a ton of material in the library on Nazism.” - Shaka Shakur
classified as security threats and difficult to get past the mailroom. Experiences like Shakur’s aren’t uncommon. A 2019 report by PEN America, a freedom of expression advocacy group, concluded that publication censorship in prisons is the largest book ban and one of the largest First Amendment violations in the U.S. today. Like in other states, mailroom staff in IDOC facilities decide what publications to reject based on their discretion. They are encouraged to err on the side of caution if they are unsure what to do, according to mailroom training materials IDOC provided to the Indiana Daily Student. Rules can change without public notice and vary between facilities. Chief Communications Officer Annie Goeller declined to be interviewed for this story without previewing a list of questions, which the IDS does not allow as a condition of interviews. The IDS provided some allegations in writing for Goeller to comment on. Comments attributed to IDOC rather than to Goeller came from the agency’s public records email. In an email, IDOC said mailroom staff make rejection decisions based on their training, and if they are unsure, they consult investigation and intelligence agents, who either make a decision or refer the material to the IDOC legal division. IDOC said this chain of command ensures consistent decisions across facilities. Prison book bans fall into two broad categories: content-based and contentneutral. Content-neutral bans are based on the physical characteristics of the material. For example, IDOC facilities reject used books if they have damage such as stains or markings. Content-based bans prohibit material that prison officials believe could disrupt the security or order of the prison.
In an email responding to a public records request for a list of rejected publications and another request for rejection notices, IDOC said no such list exists and that all rejection decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. Other states maintain prohibited materials lists and have released them in response to records requests. The 2019 PEN America report found that prisons disproportionately ban books about Black history and civil rights on the grounds that they may disrupt order in the prison or incite racial hatred. Anecdotally, that pattern persists in Indiana. Adam Scouten is an organizer for IDOC Watch, a prison abolitionist organization that works with political prisoners and prisoners who become politicized while incarcerated. He said IDOC frequently rejects pro-Black and Afrocentric literature on the grounds that it presents a security threat or could incite racial hatred. If a publication mentions a group that IDOC has designated as a Security Threat Group, that publication will be rejected, he said. He listed “Stand Up, Struggle Forward” by Sanyika Shakur and the San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper as publications he knew of that had been recently rejected at IDOC facilities. Nube Brown is the editor of the San Francisco Bay View, which publishes stories about San Francisco’s Black community and writings by prisoners all over the U.S. She said the paper is sometimes rejected at Indiana prisons and when she receives rejection letters, they often argue the publication poses a security threat and contains language that could cause riots. “They don't want our publication because it's educational. It's inspiring. It brings hope,” Brown said. “If the prisoners are educated about who they are, what is happening, then may be able to get together and resist what's taking place. That, of course, is a threat to the system.” Andy Chan is a long-time volunteer and current president of Books to Prisoners, a nonprofit that sends books to prisoners across the U.S. He said one common contentbased rejection of books that Books to Prisoners encounters is for racial content — particularly for books about
Black history and civil rights. Without a list of prohibited titles or a log of rejection notices including titles, it’s impossible to say precisely whether and to what extent IDOC disproportionately rejects books by and about Black people, or if there’s variation between facilities. In an email, Goeller said IDOC does not reject publications by and about Black people. She said the Black Panther Party is classified as a Security Threat Group because the FBI lists it as an extremist organization. * * *
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ules for sending books to people incarcerated in IDOC facilities have fluctuated in recent years. In 2018, five IDOC facilities began to only allow books from two vendors, Amazon and Edward Hamilton, and rejected all used books. In mailroom training materials, IDOC said this decision by those five facilities was not approved by the central office. In November 2020, a nonprofit group called the Human Rights Defense Center sued IDOC for rejecting its publications. Dan Marshall, general counsel at HRDC, said IDOC is supposed to notify publishers if their materials are rejected. But Marshall said HRDC only found out when their subscribers notified them. In January 2021, a court issued a preliminary injunction ordering IDOC to stop rejecting books on the basis of their supplier. The injunction also required IDOC to send written notice to the sender of withheld publications including a specific explanation of what part of the material threatened a “specific legitimate penological interest” and a citation of which policy is being violated. IDOC has to provide explicit justifications for withholding or censoring publications. In a rejection letter sent to
“You're stewing in isolation, without an outlet for your mind. And it gives the lie to the official narrative that prison exists for reform and rehabilitation.” - Adam Scouten
Books to Prisoners after the injunction, IDOC did not cite a specific policy being violated. Goeller could not comment on why this rejection did not include a reason but acknowledged the policy requires IDOC to do so. The IDS was not able to obtain other rejection notices before publication to evaluate whether this rejection notice represents a pattern. In November 2021, IDOC settled with the Human Rights Defense Center. In addition to reinforcing the preliminary injunction, IDOC agreed to pay damages and to implement new policies and a training program by the end of January 2022. Marshall said he hopes the settlement will improve consistency and access. In response to a records request for rejection notices, IDOC said in an email, “The forms you are requesting are given to each individual offender and a copy is placed in their packet. The staff does not keep a collective database or log of all correspondence that is confiscated.” The settlement requires IDOC to maintain logs documenting mail confiscations. Before the settlement, Marshall said IDOC had argued that HRDC’s publications posed a security threat. “They agreed to ultimately settle the case and let our publications in,” Marshall said. “If they truly thought there was a security problem, they wouldn't have done that.” * * *
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or incarcerated people, books and other publications are a source of education, empowerment, entertainment and connection to the outside world. Prison libraries are limited and incarcerated people must be accompanied by a guard to visit the library. Tablets powered by Global Tel Link allow prisoners to buy e-books, music and movies, but they’re prohibitively expensive for many prisoners. Scouten said for people who are in a Secure Housing Unit, alone in their cell for upward of 23 hours a day, a lack of book access can be especially devastating. “The only way available to prisoners to be able to make SEE PRISONS, PAGE 4
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Biden administration determined Russian troops committed war crimes in Ukraine By Emma Uber
emmauber@iu.edu | @EmmaUber7
The Biden administration formally determined Wednesday that Russian troops committed war crimes in Ukraine, according to a U.S Department of State press release. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are attending an emergency summit with NATO leaders in Brussels, according to the Associated Press. The United States will work with other stakeholders — including allies and international organiza-
tions — to prosecute those who perpetrate war crimes, Blinken said. The decision to officially categorize Russian troops’ actions as war crimes is based on credible reports showing Russian troops targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, Blinken said. “Russia’s forces have destroyed apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, civilian vehicles, shopping centers, and ambulances, leaving thousands of innocent civilians killed or wounded,” Blinken
said in the release. “Many of the sites Russia’s forces have hit have been clearly identifiable as in-use by civilians.” Blinken specifically cited Russian attacks on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, including the bombing of a maternity hospital and a theater with the Russian word for “children” written on the building in letters large enough to read from the sky. “Every day that Russia’s forces continue their brutal attacks, the number of innocent civilians killed and wounded, including women and children, climbs,” Blinken said in the release.
O’Neill School master's program ranks number one in graduate school rankings By Jacob Lubarsky jarlubar@iu.edu
U.S. News and World Report rankings, a highly credited ranking system for college programs across the country, released an updated list of the 2023 Best Graduate School rankings on March 29. IU’s Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs ranks at number one for its master’s program in public affairs, according to News at IU. IU ties with Syracuse University for first place, outranking typical prominent
schools like Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley. Three areas at the O’Neill School ranked number one, its programs in public finance and budgeting, nonprofit management and environmental policy and management. The O’Neill School has also grasped number two positions in the public management and leadership and public policy analysis programs. These rises in rankings have been a consistent trend for IU, according to News at IU, as other schools like the Kelley School of Business,
the IU School of Medicine and the IU School of Nursing have climbed the ranks in their respective programs.
SAMANTHA SMITH | IDS
The Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs building is seen on March 8, 2022, on 10th Street. IU’s O’Neill School ranks at number one for its master's program in public affairs.