Two University of Chicago students were banned from volunteering in the Cook County Jail after publicly criticizing jail policies. A letter from the People’s Law Office alleges that the students’ dismissal constitutes a First Amendment violation.
As the new school year began, University of Chicago students Ethan Ostrow and Harley Pomper were preparing to resume their work in a volunteer program that they helped lead in the Cook County Jail. The program—which they had participated in for two years—gives students the opportunity to teach writing skills to people who are incarcerated.
“We were planning our curriculum, ordering workbooks, and polishing the next publication,” said Harley Pomper, a graduate student at the University of Chicago. “We were incredibly excited to see returning members and have the chance to share space together again.”
Then they were told that they were no longer allowed inside the jail.
Pomper and Ostrow were told by officials from the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics that they had lost their clearance and could no longer lead the workshops because they had publicly criticized policies that they believe violate the rights of people who are detained in the jail.
“A government actor punishing community members for expressing views contrary to the government’s opinion would clearly be viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.”
Brad Thompson, the People’s Law Office
While working in the facility, the students observed mistreatment of detainees, but one policy in particular—the jail’s “paper ban”—inspired the students to speak out publicly.
“We have seen and heard about unlivable conditions for years,” Pomper said. “But to us, the paper ban appeared as one of many policies that urgently threatened the safety and wellbeing of people inside.”
The “paper ban”—a regulation that limits the number of books, letters, photos and legal documents an inmate can possess—has existed for years, but it has not been consistently implemented.
In May, Ostrow recalls being told by detainees about mass drug raids on paper products that were described to him as “random and indiscriminate.” Allegedly, jail staff began confiscating inmates’ papers in response to what Sheriff Tom Dart described as a “drug crisis,” in which drugs were being smuggled into the facility on paper.
“They took away peoples papers—including some legal documents,” Ostrow said. “Workbooks were being confiscated, long memoirs, writing that people had created.”
Ostrow and Pomper believed that the ban stifled the voices of those on the inside and undermined their educational opportunities, but the students were afraid to speak out because they didn’t want to jeopardize the relationship between the Cook County Jail and the program that they volunteered for.
“We felt deeply concerned about retaliation against our program, people on the inside, and ourselves as workshop facilitators,” Ostrow said.
The students voiced their concerns in an op-ed, published in Sun Times on May 21. Nine days later, Sheriff Dart responded in-kind, with an op-ed of his own defending the reasoning behind the ban, sparking opportunities for public debate.
“The way that Sheriff Dart responded and made a counter argument is how things are supposed to work under the First Amendment,” said Jamie Kalven, founder of the Invisible Institute, a nonprofit journalism organization based in Chicago’s South Side. “We know more about that issue, not because we’re choosing sides, but because the exchange illuminated the competing values and the questions of judgment.”
But in October, Ostrow and Pomper were informed that their security clearance was revoked, preventing them from participating in the volunteer program.
“Harley and I were both in class when we received an email from IOP staff requesting to speak immediately,” Ostrow said. “They’d met with senior security officials in the jail, who informed them that our security clearances were denied, while the rest of our group’s clearances were approved.”
Out of 12 students, Ostrow and Pomper were the only students who were barred from the jail. IOP officials explained that the decision to deny their clearances had been made by the Sheriff’s Office itself in direct response to our op-ed.
“We felt furious and devastated that the jail had denied our access to this invaluable community space, simply because we hoped to shed light on conditions in CCJ,” Ostrow said.
Ostrow and Pomper were not given formal notice of their dismissal, but according to Ostrow, they were told explicitly by IOP officials that the decision to deny their clearances had been made by the Sheriff’s Office itself in direct response to their op-ed.
The students tried to work through IOP officials to reinstate their clearance, but two months later, their clearances were still denied.
The University of Chicago’s IOP Director of Communications did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Kalven, CCSO’s actions clearly constitute a violation of the two students’ First Amendment rights.
“It is a clear signal, not just to that program, but to everyone in the jail that you can have access as long as you are not saying anything publicly about the conditions that you have observed in the jail that are questionable or even disturbing,”
Jamie Kalven, Founder, Invsible institute
In previous cases, the Supreme Court has ruled that prisons and jails can suppress speech that jeopardizes the security and functioning of the facility, but Kalven argues that the publication of an op-ed does not fall into either of these categories.
“To construe the careful, civil raising of questions that have a public implication—about policies and practices within the jail—to construe that as ‘disruptive of the functions of the jail’—that seems an impossible proposition,” Kalven said.
Kalven also raised concerns that retaliation against students who speak out against policies could result in a chilling effect that will silence the voices of future volunteers and visitors to the prison.
“It is a clear signal, not just to that program, but to everyone in the jail that you can have access as long as you are not saying anything publicly about the conditions that you have observed in the jail that are questionable or even disturbing,” Kalven said.
The students are now being represented by attorney Brad Thompson of the People’s Law Office, a Chicago-based group of civil rights attorneys.
A letter sent from Thomas on November 28 to CCSO General Counsel Nicholas Scouffas states:
“A government actor punishing community members for expressing views contrary to the government’s opinion would clearly be viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.”
The letter also states that if the students were barred from participating in the IOP writing program because of their op-ed “in an effort to deter them from continuing to exercise their rights to free speech, this would constitute First Amendment retaliation in violation of the United States Constitution.”
A current detainee whose name has been redacted told the Chicago Reporter that since participating in the program with Pomper and Ostrow, he has experienced growth.
“In the workshop, they want to make the most of that moment in that space and make you feel comfortable—you can see that it’s not just words,” he said.
He hopes to see the two students return to their positions as volunteers in the new year, and believes that their choice to escalate to legal action could push the battle for First Amendment protections in correctional facilities forward.
“One of the reasons our voices get muffled is criticism—who likes criticism?” he said. “But if you really truly care, you won’t stop. You’ve got to keep going.”
As of December 19, Scouffas has not responded to the letter.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
You people are morons. The inmates are using every chance to bring in drug soaked papers, even marking envelopes with fake legal mail stamps. This world is soft as puppy poo. Grow up.
A decade or so ago, I started a blog written by a man in Stateville Correctional Institution, the prison where many of the inmates from Cook County jails end up doing time. In the blogs, he wrote of the conditions of the prison and of everyday life there. The blog was fascinating and insightful, while helping the man develop his writing skills and giving him something constructive to do in the cramped lifestyle of prison. He dealt with a lot of responses from prison guards to the prison warden to the public, ranging from praise to retribution. Several guards told him that he “told it like it really is.” After all I learned from this man and his writing of dozens of long blog entries, I am certain of this: The people in prison engaged in writing programs and writing activities are not the people smuggling in drugs. The people in writing programs are trying to make good use of their time. Best wishes to the folks at the U of Chicago IOP, who have been very kind to me in the past.