By Associated Press
BOSTON, Mass — A publisher that distributes books on the legal rights of prisoners has sued the chief of the state’s prison system, claiming he is banning its publications in Massachusetts prisons.
Prison Legal News, a nonprofit publisher, alleges that Correction Commissioner Harold Clarke and other prison officials refuse to add it to a list of approved vendors who can send books to prisoners.
The lawsuit filed in federal court Wednesday claims the policy banning the books is unconstitutional.
A spokeswoman for Clarke did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Prison Legal News distributed books in Massachusetts prisons until 2003, when a policy allowing only approved vendors to send books to prisoners was adopted.