Woman claims a Kentucky prison violated her free speech by keeping a ‘dirty’ letter she wrote to her inmate boyfriend for several weeks
- Stacy Maczis sent letters to her boyfriend at Carroll County Detention Center
- She said when she sent letter in September, it was flagged as ‘sexually explicit’
- Her boyfriend never received the letter and she said she didn’t get it back until October 24
- She claims that the prison violated her free speech by keeping the letter so long
- Prison officials said it’s their discretion whether or not letters get to the inmates
- Now, the detention center will soon start posting guidelines for letters online
Stacy Maczis (pictured) has claimed that a Kentucky prison (inset) violated her free speech by keeping a ‘dirty’ letter that she wrote to her inmate boyfriend
A woman has claimed that a Kentucky prison violated her free speech by keeping a ‘dirty’ letter that she wrote to her inmate boyfriend.
Stacy Maczis said she sent the letters to the unnamed inmate at the Carroll County Detention Center beginning in September.
‘You could write anything, as long as it didn’t have to do with violence, direct threats, criminal activity, drugs or any of that type of thing,’ she told the Carroll County Times.
According to a corrections officer, who Maczis spoke to at the prison, she was free to write whatever she wanted when it came to sexual content.
She was just not allowed to send nude photos.
Maczis claimed the officer told her that ‘we’ve had stuff that would make your hair curl, but we send it through, it’s fine’.
‘He said, and this is the exact quote, “No nips or lips, other than that we’ll send it through,” which meant pictures,’ Maczis said.
According to the Times, Maczis wrote the letter, which her inmate boyfriend received, but a second letter was flagged as ‘sexually explicit’.
She told the newspaper that her boyfriend had to sign for it. Maczis said he never received the letter and she didn’t receive the returned letter until October 24.
‘Apparently it was floating around in the jail for a month,’ she claimed.
Maczis said she then inquired about why her letter had been flagged in the first place.
Maczis (pictured) said she then inquired about why her letter had been flagged in the first place. Maczis believed that the incident violated her right to free speech
Carroll County Detention Center (pictured) Warden George Hardinger said: ‘We’re not trying to stop people from having some discussion. But if it’s a bit much, then, yeah, send it back. We have a form that we fill out’
‘I asked, “Can you please send me the policy for what is allowed to be written?”‘ Maczis told the Times.
‘If you just send me the policy, I will follow it. I know you are allowed to read my letters. That’s fine. Read them. But I’m 47, he’s 35. If I want to have sex with this man, why is it your business?’
Maczis believed that the incident violated her right to free speech.
Carroll County Detention Center Warden George Hardinger said: ‘We’re not trying to stop people from having some discussion. But if it’s a bit much, then, yeah, send it back. We have a form that we fill out.’
‘We check a block that says, “This is why your mail is being returned,”‘ he told the news outlet.
Hardinger also said the return to sender process can take up to several weeks.
Since the incident, Hardinger said the detention center will soon be posting the guidelines for letters online.