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A Wisconsin nonprofit announced the state Department of Corrections (DOC) had barred them from sending books to incarcerated people, sparking an outcry.  

The department’s spokesperson says the group isn’t barred. Beth Hardtke, director of communications for the Wisconsin DOC, told the Examiner that the nonprofit can send books to prisoners—though they have to be new copies, not used books. 

The department has expressed concern about “those who would impersonate” the nonprofit — Wisconsin Books to Prisoners (WBTP) — in order to send drugs into prison. DOC did not specify whether anyone has tried to send drugs into prisons by impersonating WBTP, but a department administrator said bad actors have tried to send in drugs and have also used prison mail to impersonate the IRS and others.

In an email to the DOC, WBTP co-founder Camy Matthay said that reading contributes to the safety of residents and staff of prisons and reduces recidivism. Matthay said a large proportion of the books incarcerated people request from WBTP underscore that they are trying their best to prepare to be productive members of society. This includes books on various trades and on how to start a business or nonprofit, she said. Matthay’s email was part of an email chain between WBTP and the DOC, which the DOC sent to the Examiner. 

“We feel reading is a human right. Access to books is a human right,” Matthay told the Examiner. 

WBTP said that the group was barred by the DOC from sending books to incarcerated people in a statement dated Sept. 16. The group said it has sent close to 70,000 books to prisoners across Wisconsin since its founding in 2006. 

“It’s a bad, very, very unfair situation,” Matthay said. “Especially when a [very] few bad actors — if we can assume this really is going on… cause thousands of prisoners not to be able to get literature.”

Media outlets and social media accounts have publicized the claim that the DOC barred the group from sending any books to incarcerated people. The DOC has received backlash, including a petition with 324 supporters criticizing the alleged decision by the department. WBTP said in a statement that the group is “pursuing all legal options.”

Did the DOC bar the group from sending new books?

The DOC had already told the nonprofit that it couldn’t send used books to prisoners. Security Chief Robert Miller of the DOC’s division of adult institutions (DAI) told the nonprofit in mid-January that the department would not accept used publications at that time, according to a timeline provided by WBTP.

In May, WBTP proposed that the DOC give the group special permission to send clean copies of used books. The group said Idaho is an example of a state that has a list of approved vendors that can send both new and used books. 

In a follow-up email in August, Matthay said well over 200 prisoners were waiting to receive books they requested and hoping the DOC would restore the arrangement allowing WBTP to send used books.  

“To us, it simply doesn’t feel defensible to withdraw opportunities for the men and women in your care to read and occupy their time in ways that are meaningful to them,” Matthay wrote in the email, which was part of an email chain the DOC sent to the Examiner. 

In mid-August, DAI Administrator Sarah Cooper responded to WBTP and referenced a past decision. 

“…We have not made exceptions for any other organizations or entities, and we cannot do so for Wisconsin Books to Prisoners,” Cooper said. “In fact, since the decision was made to no longer allow books in from your organization, we’ve had to implement a whole new process for handling mail from the entities listed in the above paragraph.”

A month later, on Sept. 16, WBTP published its statement condemning the alleged ban on the organization sending any books to incarcerated people in Wisconsin. After speaking to Hardtke, the Examiner spoke with Matthay about the possibility that Cooper had meant the nonprofit couldn’t send used books to prisons — not that the group couldn’t send in any books. 

“The way that message has been interpreted by everybody that’s read it… our project was barred,” Matthay said. 

According to the timeline provided by WBTP, the group asked the DOC if it could resolve the problem by providing a USPS tracking number for every package of books it ships. 

Hardtke also said friends and family can purchase books directly from bookstores, which send the books to prisons, along with a receipt, for incarcerated people.

Is the concern about drugs a good reason to limit books?

In January, Miller said the department, as well as jails and prisons across the country, were “experiencing a large amount of sprayed-on narcotics and foreign substances on paper,” according to the WBTP timeline. This created a significant risk to the health and safety of staff and incarcerated people, he said. 

In August, Cooper said “there have been many instances” of people trying to send drugs into the prisons while pretending the mail is coming from legitimate sources, such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice. 

“So our concern is not with your organization, but with those who would impersonate your organization for nefarious means,” Cooper told WBTP on Aug. 16. 

In its appeal to the DOC in May, WBTP referenced an article by the Marshall Project, which quoted a former science-to-action coordinator for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation’s Overdose Response Strategy program. The former coordinator, Jennifer Carroll, said there is little evidence that limiting access to books will help save lives.

Hardtke said “bad actors” in Wisconsin and other states have exploited “otherwise positive programs” that rely on donations to support incarcerated people. She said donated books have recently been among materials that have tested positive for drugs. Neither the Examiner nor Tone Madison have heard back from Hardtke about the frequency of incidents of books testing positive for drugs. 

What’s next for Wisconsin Books to Prisoners? 

Matthay said WBTP’s project has been stalled. If the DOC does allow her organization to send in new or used books, she said she needs to see their policy in writing. She said she wants the DOC to tell wardens, staff, mailroom clerks and property sergeants what the new policy is so WBTP doesn’t have to ship the same box of books more than once. 

Even if WBTP can start sending new books again, Matthay said a ban on used books hobbles the project. The group doesn’t have the money to buy the amount of books that they send. The ban on used books prevents WBTP from sending used books donated by the general public. 

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Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the name of Tone Madison.