Good grief.
The Texas Department of Corrections has just banned 10,000 books — including a pop-up version of the children's classic A Charlie Brown Christmas — from libraries at correctional facilities in the Lone Star State.
- Also banned: the 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple and the bestselling book Freakonomics.
- NOT banned: Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf; two books by former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke; or Bret Easton Ellis's gory serial killer novel American Psycho
But the policy isn't just arbitrary — it's also counterproductive. James LaRue, the director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association, told The New York Times that:
"All too often, prison censorship, in addition to being an arbitrary abuse of authority, denies the incarcerated the chance to get out of jail and stay out."
You can take a stand for Snoopy and the rest of the gang — along with the important benefits that can come from encouraging reading. Urge the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to lift its ban on A Charlie Brown Christmas and thousands of other books.
Please sign my petition now so these inmates can have a happier holiday season. Your signature will help spotlight the issue of prison literacy and build public pressure to convince Texas officials to revisit their senseless book-banning policy.
