Florida state prisons have banned several comics and graphic novels, including Absolute Watchmen, Adventures of Superman, Blade, The Walking Dead and Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way.
According to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund , a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the First Amendment rights of comic creators and publishers, the state claims that the comics are a threat to the safety and security of the prison. The ban was discovered after the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) released two lists of banned publications; one from 2012 and one from 2009.
This is not the first time the Florida prison system has found itself wrapped up in a publication ban scandal. The state has been fighting a battle with Prison Legal News -- a prisoners rights publication -- over a statewide ban on its publication in Florida jails.
PLN has accused the state of using the ban to stop publications that are critical of the prison system from reaching prisoners. Other banned publications include The Disciplinary Self-Help Litigation Manual; The Federal Prison Handbook, Coming Out of Concrete Closets, Danish: A Complete Guide for Beginners and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.