A publisher of magazines and books for prison inmates, including “Prison Legal News,” is suing the state correctional system for blocking its publications from being mailed to inmates in Hawaiʻi prisons and jails, arguing the ban violates the publisher’s constitutional rights.
Jeffrey Portnoy, the Honolulu attorney for the nonprofit Human Rights Defense Center, said the publications it distributes are legal books and publications to help prisoners address problems such as what they should do if they believe their civil rights are being violated.
“None of it is like, how to make a bomb or how to lead a riot — none of it. Self-help is the best way for me to put it,” Portnoy said…