How Prisons Silence

Free speech is a core value of liberal democracies, but for 1.8 million incarcerated Americans, it is largely inaccessible. Incarcerated people have scarce access to phone calls and in-person visits, are prohibited from using social media, and face severe reprisals (such as transfer to solitary confinement) for engaging in protest. Are such authoritarian controls on speech—which it would be unthinkable to impose on the general public—justified behind the prison gate? I argue that they are not. First, I discuss how this silencing regime undermines the dignity of incarcerated people, by endangering their self-respect. Second, I explain how it increases moral ignorance among the public—about injustices related to our prison system, and beyond.