Abstract

Incarcerated individuals are experiencing some of the greatest forms of censorship in the United States by process of book banning. However, this censorship varies widely between states with Florida having more than 10,000 books banned in prisons and Wyoming only having 25 total banned in the state. This leads to the question: what explains state variation of books banned in prisons and does book banning have an effect on recidivism? This paper argues that the party control of a state legislature and the governor’s party have an effect on the amount of books banned in that state's prisons. Furthermore, this paper argues that the amount of books banned in a state’s prisons will be correlated with a higher recidivism rate in that state. The first hypothesis is evaluated with a statistical analysis of the amount of books banned in a state per 1000 prisoners and measures of party control of the state legislature and the governor. The results found partial support for this hypothesis. For the second hypothesis, a statistical approach was taken, examining the relationship between banned books and recidivism in a state. The results found substantial support for this argument. However, the results should be interpreted carefully as many states lack transparency in publishing their list of banned books. Further work in this area is warranted.

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