New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 7 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION › Chapter VIII - Institutional Programs › Part 712 - Media Review › Section 712.2 - Standards

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
The department adopts the following guidelines by which
				  literature for inmates will be evaluated:
(a) In general, the materials should be
				acceptable for regular mailing according to United States Postal Law and
				regulations.
(b) Publications which
				contain child pornography or which promote a sexual performance of a child in
				violation of Penal Law, article 263 are unacceptable. Publications in which
				models of any age are depicted or portrayed as underage persons in sexually
				provocative poses or engaged in sexual activity are unacceptable. Publications
				depicting nude children in a non-pornographic context, but which would promote
				or encourage prurient interest in the sexual performance of children, are
				unacceptable. Publications which, taken as a whole, by the average person
				applying contemporary community standards, appeal to prurient interest, and
				which depict or describe in a patently offensive way sexual bestiality, sadism,
				masochism, necrophilia, or incest and which taken as a whole, lack serious
				literary, artistic, political or scientific value are obscene and are
				unacceptable.
(c) The publication
				should not incite violence based on race, religion, sex, sexual orientation,
				creed, or nationality. Incite violence, for purposes of this guildeline, means
				to advocate, expressly or by clear implication, acts of violence.
(d) Any publication which advocates and
				presents a clear and immediate risk of lawlessness, violence, anarchy, or
				rebellion against governmental authority is unacceptable.
(e) The publication should not incite
				disobedience towards law enforcement officers or prison personnel. Incite
				disobedience, for purposes of this guideline, means to advocate, expressly or
				by clear implication, acts of disobedience.
(f) The publication should not give
				instruction in the use or manufacture of firearms, explosives, and other
				weapons, or depict or describe their manufacture. Mere depictions of the use of
				hunting and/or military weapons which reasonably would not affect the safety
				and/or security of the facility are not prohibited.
(g) The publication should not provide
				instruction by word(s) or picture(s) regarding martial arts skills. Martial
				arts includes, but is not limited to, aikido, jiujitsu, judo, karate, kung fu,
				and tai chi chu'an. Publications which discuss martial arts without providing
				instruction are acceptable.
(h) The
				publication should not:
(1) contain
				information which appears to be written in code; or
(2) depict or describe methods of lock
				picking; or
(3) depict or describe
				methods of escape from correctional facilities or which contain maps which
				could aid an inmate in an escape from a correctional facility (i.e. immediate
				area of the facility, detailed road maps, etc.); or
(4) depict or describe procedures for the
				brewing of alcoholic beverages or the manufacture of drugs or use of illegal
				drugs; or
(5) depict or describe
				methods or procedures for smuggling prison contraband; or
(6) depict or describe techniques or methods
				for rioting and/or information instructive in hostage or riot negotiation
				techniques; or
(7) depict or
				describe hand signs, insignias, graffiti, or any other identifiers depicting or
				pertaining to a gang, or text that describes or depicts gang or other
				unauthorized group activity in such a way that it would promote or instruct in
				the formation of such groups inside a correctional facility.
Note:The above paragraph includes written material that, if
				  observed by a fellow inmate in the inmate's possession, could result in an
				  inference being drawn about the inmate's gang affiliation and thereby target
				  him or her for assault or result in other disruptive conduct. It also includes
				  certain written material that could facilitate organizational activity within
				  an institution by an organization that has not been approved by the deputy
				  commissioner for program services to operate within that institution. Material
				  that could facilitate organizational activity includes, but is not limited to,
				  a membership roster, organizational chart, constitution or bylaws. All such
				  material can be disallowed although otherwise determined not to incite or
				  advocate for violence or disobedience.