New York state prisons cannot keep the Pulitzer-winning history of the 1971 Attica uprising from incarcerated men and women under a settlement with the state corrections department.
Heather Thompson, the author of “Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising and Its Legacy,” last year sued the state because of a ban on her book in New York prisons. The book is considered the authoritative history of the nation’s deadliest prison riot.
During the 1971 uprising at the Attica Correctional Facility in Wyoming County, 43 people were killed — 29 inmates and 10 prison employee hostages when police stormed the prison behind a wall of gunfire.
In an earlier agreement, the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, or DOCCS, agreed to allow the book into prisons with all but two pages. The court settlement was approved this month; that settlement ensures that DOCCS “cannot backtrack on their decision,” the NYCLU said in a news release.
“Under the agreement, DOCCS must stop barring incarcerated people from receiving the book, maintain two copies of the book in each DOCCS facility’s general library, post a ‘Notice of Settlement’ in every library facility, and more,” the release said. “While the book’s historical illustration of Attica will still be removed, the names of individuals who were killed or wounded in the uprising will be included in a cut-out.”
The list of those killed and wounded is on the backside of a page with a prison illustration.
The state admitted no wrongdoing with the settlement.
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