Paper Book Ban at Albuquerque Jail Triggers Rights Audit

At Albuquerque’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), a sweeping new policy that strips most paper books and even paper letters from incarcerated people has sparked a backlash strong enough to trigger an independent audit.

The jail says it’s a security move to curb contraband by shifting reading and mail to digital tablets. Critics on the facility’s own Civilian Advisory Board say it looks more like a broad crackdown on access to books, information, and family contact.

From paper pages to tablets — with a catch

The paper ban, introduced this year, removed most physical books and personal paper possessions, including letters, from MDC housing units. In theory, tablets would replace both library access and mail. In practice, board member and former MDC inmate Dr. Patrick Hibbard says there simply aren’t enough devices.

Hibbard reports that some people in segregation units have access to only two tablets for an entire pod, with around 30 minutes of use per person per day. That short window isn’t just for reading books; it’s also how people receive mail and contact loved ones. “If any of it’s true, it’s incredibly disturbing,” Hibbard told local outlet KOB.

Hibbard also questions the core rationale. While MDC cites contraband hidden in books, he points out that many other objects — mattresses, for one — could serve the same purpose, yet remain. The Civilian Advisory Board voted 7–1 to request an independent audit of the policy, raising concerns about possible constitutional issues, including under the Eighth Amendment.

Part of a wider fight over prison book bans

MDC’s policy isn’t happening in a vacuum. New Mexico facilities have repeatedly been challenged for restricting books and mail. The Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) has sued multiple jails and prisons in the state, alleging First Amendment violations tied to censorship of mailed books and publications.

In one case, the Santa Fe County Detention Center banned all outside books, sending shipments back marked “return to sender,” prompting litigation over access to HRDC’s publications. More recently, statewide policies have rerouted mail for off-site scanning, effectively blocking many hard-copy books and printed materials that don’t fit scanner requirements, according to Prison Legal News.

Courts have already pushed back on some of these measures. A 2023 ruling rejected scanner-based bans that blocked direct subscriptions, a win for publications like Prison Legal News and its publisher, HRDC.

For book lovers, this isn’t just a behind-the-walls policy debate. These rules decide whether incarcerated readers can hold a physical book, receive a magazine, or open a letter that isn’t filtered through a glitchy tablet. As the MDC audit moves forward, New Mexico once again finds itself at the center of the national fight over prison book bans, censorship, and who gets to read what — and how — on the inside.