First Amendment Lawsuit Against MODOC Successful

August 2026

In September 2023, the Missouri Department of Corrections implemented a new policy that prevents friends, family members, and outside non-profit book programs from directly purchasing and mailing books or publications to incarcerated individuals.

• Free Materials Were Blocked: Incarcerated individuals could no longer receive free reading materials from non-profit organizations. Under the MODOC policy, the only way that people in prison could receive publications or books was to have their case manager write a “green check” from their commissary funds to one of a small number of approved vendors. Essentially, people in prison had to pay for books themselves from commissary funds ordering from a small number of preselect vendors.
• Family Supporters Were Cut Out: Family members and loved ones outside prison walls were prohibited from ordering educational publications directly for individuals on the inside.
• Restricted Registration Standards: Materials were required to come from “bona fide vendors” who had filed unspecified, “appropriate records” with the Missouri Secretary of State. There was no way of knowing what this term meant or what organizations were on this list or if the list even existed.
• Unfettered Administrative Discretion: MODOC offered no application process or objective guidelines on how an organization could achieve “bona fide” status, leaving prison administrators with complete discretion to grant or deny approval.

Standing up for the First Amendment

To challenge the arbitrary restrictions enacted by the Missouri Department of Corrections, Level, an educational service providing self guided learning materials to incarcerated people, partnered with the First Amendment Clinic at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.

In January 2025, Level filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. The complaint alleged that MODOC’s policy operated as an unconstitutional prior restraint on protected speech and violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections against vague, arbitrary enforcement.

The settlement: opening doors to education in prison across Missouri

In July 2026, Level and MODOC reached a comprehensive settlement agreement that fundamentally reshapes how publications enter Missouri state prisons. The agreement eliminates the arbitrary barriers that once blocked non-profit educational and literacy organizations from reaching people behind bars.

Key systemic changes enacted by the settlement include:

• Expanded Vendor Qualification: Vendor eligibility is no longer restricted to entities registered with the Missouri Secretary of State. Any legitimate entity registered with any state authority – including non-profit organizations across the country – can now qualify as a vendor.
• Clear Online Application & Timely Reviews: MODOC must establish a formal application process through its website. Vendors will receive written determinations within 30 business days, along with a formal appeal process if an application is denied.
• Restored Access to Free Educational Materials: MODOC will implement an official process allowing incarcerated individuals to request free publications through their facility case managers, ensuring cost is no longer a barrier to learning.
• Public Vendor Directory: MODOC will publish and maintain an approved list of vendors accessible to both facility staff and incarcerated individuals across all state institutions.

MODOC has 150 days to implement these changes. They are scheduled to go into effect in the fall of 2026.

** For all the time and resources that this lawsuit required, imagine what the experience was like for those inside Missouri state prisons who were suddenly cut off from outside educational resources and who had no recourse. We are so thankful to the leadership and law student practitioners at the First Amendment Clinic at Washington University in St. Louis. In the end, a sensible and favorable policy was established.

– Alex Wright, Executive Director at Level

** First Amendment rights don’t end at prison gates. While prison authorities can enact reasonable safety rules, those rules have to be proportionate and rationally connected to actual risks. When rules arbitrarily limit the rights of incarcerated people and those who wish to communicate with them, it’s important to challenge those restrictions.

– Lisa Hoppenjans, Director, First Amendment Clinic at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law

** In previous years, we at Missouri Prison Books sent thousands of free books annually to incarcerated readers in Missouri, and we hope we will soon be able to resume doing so. This is a great victory on behalf of incarcerated folks, for their First Amendment rights, and for their humanity.

– Board Of Directors, Missouri Prison Books