Prohibited Books and Periodicals
| Submitted | Aug. 2, 2017 |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Alec Shea
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
All lists of periodicals and books that prisoners are not permitted to possess or receive
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Alec Shea
From: Tammy Shelby
Dear Alec Shea,
The Mail System Coordinators Panel (MSCP) is in receipt of your open records request regarding a TDCJ banned book and periodicals list.
Be advised, TDCJ has no such list. Books which are received for offenders are entered into a mainframe database which is unavailable to the public. Should you wish to send a book to an offender you may contact this office or the unit mailroom where the offender is housed and staff can search the database for the book you are wishing to send. All books and periodicals are subject to review and rejection should content be found in violation of the rules.
Should you have additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact this office.
Sincerely,
Tammy Shelby
Program Supervisor I
Mail System Coordinators Panel
From: Alec Shea
Ms. Shelby,
Under Texas law, all government records are presumed to be available to the public unless they are subject to a specific exemption. Simply claiming that a record is "unavailable to the public" is not an appropriate or adequate reaction to a public record. I hereby request the database you referenced. In order for a document to be exempted, the exemption must be approved by Texas' Attorney General. Unless there is an acceptable legal exemption, which has been officially reviewed by the Attorney General, it is required that you release the database requested.
Best,
Alec Shea
From: Tammy Shelby
As previously stated, a list of prohibited books and periodicals does not exist; therefore, the agency has nothing responsive to your request.
Sincerely,
Tammy Shelby
Program Supervisor I
Mail System Coordinators Panel
-
~WRD000
From: Alec Shea
I request a list of those books that have been the subject of appeals and have been deemed unacceptable.
From: Alec Shea
I request the aforementioned database. If that does not exist, a list of all those books that have been subject to appeal.
From: Alec Shea
I request the aforementioned database. If that does not exist, a list of all those books that have been subject to appeal.
From: OGC Open Records
Mr. Shea,
Per the Public Information Act, an open records request must ask for records or information already in existence and does not require a government body to create new information, to do legal research or to answer questions. As Ms. Shelby has already explained to you, there is no such list in existence in regards to your request. Thus the TDCJ has no responsive information to provide to you or any other member of the public.
At this time the TDCJ considers your request closed.
Regards,
Amy Lee
Legal Assistant II
The information contained in this email and any attachments is intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain confidential, privileged, or proprietary information. Any other use of these materials is strictly prohibited. This email shall not be forwarded outside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Office of the General Counsel, without the permission of the original sender. If you have received this material in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and destroy all electronic, paper, or other versions.
From: Alec Shea
Ms. Shelby referenced a database in existence and copying it is not generating a new record, as I'm sure you know. I request the database she referenced when she said "Books which are received for offenders are entered into a mainframe database." That clearly states that a record exists. I request the that mainframe database.
From: OGC Open Records
Mr. Shea,
I have double-checked and confirmed with our Information Technology Division that there is no list of prohibited periodicals or books. Likewise, there is no database of prohibited periodicals or books. Therefore, the TDCJ has no responsive information. The TDCJ considers your request closed.
Regards,
Amy Lee
Legal Assistant II
The information contained in this email and any attachments is intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain confidential, privileged, or proprietary information. Any other use of these materials is strictly prohibited. This email shall not be forwarded outside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Office of the General Counsel, without the permission of the original sender. If you have received this material in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and destroy all electronic, paper, or other versions.
From: Alec Shea
"Be advised, TDCJ has no such list. Books which are received for offenders are entered into a mainframe database which is unavailable to the public. Should you wish to send a book to an offender you may contact this office or the unit mailroom where the offender is housed and staff can search the database for the book you are wishing to send. All books and periodicals are subject to review and rejection should content be found in violation of the rules."
That is the message I received from Tammy Shelby. I would like the mainframe database she referenced.
From: OGC Open Records
Mr. Shea,
The mainframe database that Ms. Shelby mentioned is a thing. It would be like you asking to be provided with Microsoft Word. It is not something that exist in a tangible form. Ms. Shelby's explanation of the database may not have been clear. It is a database that a book/periodical title is typed into to find out if the book/periodical has been disapproved. There is no list of disapproved books as the information is stored in a database.
As the TDCJ has nothing responsive to provide to you, your request is considered closed.
Regards,
Amy Lee
Legal Assistant II
The information contained in this email and any attachments is intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain confidential, privileged, or proprietary information. Any other use of these materials is strictly prohibited. This email shall not be forwarded outside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Office of the General Counsel, without the permission of the original sender. If you have received this material in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and destroy all electronic, paper, or other versions.
-
~WRD000
From: Alec Shea
You have provided, in your last message, an indication that a record exists. I have stated multiple times that I would like a copy of the database books are checked against. Databases are records, not programs like Microsoft Word. A database can be accessed through a program like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access, but it is not itself such a program. Even if you personally lack the technical knowledge to copy the database, I am sure that whoever administers it does not. Any database's information can be copied, which would not require the generation of a new record, but rather the legally-mandated transmission of an existing record.
From: OGC Open Records
Mr. Shea,
Obviously there is a clear miscommunication happening through written correspondence. Please feel free to contact me at 936-437-6007 to discuss further so that I can more clearly explain that there are no records to provide you.
If you elect not to contact me, that is your choice. However, I again want to state that the TDCJ does not have any records to provide you and that your request is closed.
Regards,
Amy Lee
Legal Assistant II
The information contained in this email and any attachments is intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain confidential, privileged, or proprietary information. Any other use of these materials is strictly prohibited. This email shall not be forwarded outside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Office of the General Counsel, without the permission of the original sender. If you have received this material in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and destroy all electronic, paper, or other versions.
From: Tammy Shelby
Mr. Shea,
The Mail System Coordinators Panel (MSCP) is in receipt of your request for a list of appealed books which were deemed unacceptable.
The only list that exist is the Director's Review Committee's (DRC) month ending list. The list includes all books and magazines which were denied AND appealed along with the DRC's ruling (approved or denied) for that month. Be advised, this list does not contain all periodicals and books that offenders are not permitted to receive.
Attached, please find this year's month ending list.
Should you have additional questions please feel free to contact this office.
Thanks,
Tammy Shelby
Program Supervisor I
Mail System Coordinators Panel
From: OGC Open Records
Mr. Shea,
I wanted to reach out and let you know that after looking into your request for a list of the disapproved books our Information Technology Department has created a new program in order to provide the information. It will take at a minimum 3 months, if not longer, to be able to create the program, clean up the list and make it available to the public. If you would like to submit a new request asking for the list, we will be happy to provide it once it is available and nothing confidential is found in the content after being reviewed.
If you would like to submit the a new request for a list of the disapproved books, please email OpenRecords.ExecServices@tdcj.texas.gov<mailto:OpenRecords.ExecServices@tdcj.texas.gov> with the understanding that the information will not be available to you for a few months.
Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Regards,
Amy Lee
Legal Assistant II
The information contained in this email and any attachments is intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain confidential, privileged, or proprietary information. Any other use of these materials is strictly prohibited. This email shall not be forwarded outside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Office of the General Counsel, without the permission of the original sender. If you have received this material in error, please notify me immediately by telephone and destroy all electronic, paper, or other versions.
Files
pages