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Bryce Franklin has spent 13 years of his 30-year sentence reading fantasy, horror and science fiction books.

At one point, Franklin participated in a prison program in which he recorded himself reading a book to send to his nephew, who was struggling to learn to read. 

Now, a policy that bans physical mail, including books, letters and photos, from being accepted by state-run prison facilities has prevented Franklin and fellow inmates from reading.

Prison officials have said the policy is an attempt to stem the flow of drugs and other contraband into the facility.

Franklin, 35, who was convicted of first-degree murder, another inmate, and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico have filed a lawsuit against the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD) alleging that the policy violates their constitutional rights to receive books, magazines and other publications through the mail.

“NMCD has impermissibly restricted publications access through some combination of official policy, public memo, unwritten and/or secret policy, informal custom and outdated systems,” states a lawsuit filed in 1st Judicial District Court on March 17.

The lawsuit alleges the policy has made it nearly impossible for inmates to access news and literature, violating free speech and procedural due process rights.

“The right to free speech in the ����������ϼ� States and in New Mexico is an incredibly foundational, fundamental right and courts have long held that the right to free speech also includes the right to read and to access reading materials,” said ACLU lawyer Lalita Moskowitz.

NMCD declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

On Dec. 29, 2021, NMCD issued a memo that stated in February 2022, personal mail would no longer be accepted at state-run facilities and would first be sent to a third party in Florida to scan, according to the lawsuit. Inmates now have to view an electronic version of their mail.

The department does not pay anything to Smart Communications, the vendor that scans and uploads items to inmate tablets, NMCD spokesperson Brittany Roembach said. Previously, the department used a different vendor named Securus.

“Since 2022, plaintiffs have been unable to access news and literature as they used to do, which has caused harm to them, their learning and person(al) growth and their relationships with their loved ones,” the lawsuit states.

The memo stated magazines and other packages would no longer be accepted because they were “incapable of running through the scanner,” the lawsuit states. However, the policy does not state if the rules would apply to books and other publications, such as newspapers.

“Some of what we allege in our lawsuit is that it’s a little unclear exactly what rules apply in different places, but in both places that our clients had been in, there were these sort of categorical restrictions," Moskowitz said.

“Access to these kinds of materials is also really important for rehabilitation, for people’s connections to the outside world, to their family and loved ones and for developing their minds and bettering themselves while they’re incarcerated,” she said.

The memo was not memorialized in any official NMCD policy and neither inmates nor their families were notified about the change, according to the lawsuit.

“At all private and state-run facilities moving forward, mail will no longer be accepted that is comprised of cardboard or other rigid parchment incapable of running through the scanner,” the memo states. “For example, USPS postal rigid express envelopes that lay flat but do not bend without creasing would not be accepted and magazines will not be accepted.”

A similar memo posted on the website states the new distribution process "streamlines the current process” and “eliminates a method by which contraband can be introduced to the facility.”

Inmates are only allowed to purchase books if they are from a list of approved vendors and publishers at state prisons. However, a correspondence policy available on inmates’ tablets does not provide a list of the approved vendors, the lawsuit alleges. 

Inmates were recently granted access to e-books on their tablets, but only public domain books were available, meaning that they can only access books published before 1931. The e-books are available for free, Roembach said.

Additionally, the lawsuit states NMCD staff allegedly told Franklin and co-inmate and plaintiff Aaron Daugherty, 40, that family members were no longer allowed to order books for inmates, even though the rule was not written into policy. Daugherty is also serving time for first-degree murder.

Instead, inmates were directed to access books at the prison’s library. However, the lawsuit alleges that the libraries are outdated and that books regularly go missing and do not get replaced.

Lawyers believe the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in particular has no budget to replace or add books to the library, though Roembach said inmates are able to ask for specific books and staff will make “reasonable efforts” to secure them.

“Library collections are coordinated centrally through the Reentry Division, which is why individual facilities do not maintain dedicated line-item budgets for purchasing books,” Roembach said. “Facilities fund subscriptions to newspapers and magazines and provide access to library services for individuals in custody.”

Additionally, Franklin and any other inmates classified as level-four offenders — maximum-security inmates — are not able to access the library, the lawsuit states.

In July 2025, Franklin asked a friend to purchase books from Books N Things Warehouse, a vendor that facility staff said was approved. When his orders arrived, they were rejected and sent back before Franklin had a chance to file a grievance, the lawsuit alleges. 

He responded by submitting two grievances in October 2025 and stated that staff did not know any vendors he could purchase from, and staff did not have a catalog to order from the singular vendor he believed he could purchase from, according to the lawsuit. 

Daugherty filed a similar grievance in June 2025 and prison officials responded by stating that “due to a high volume of security safety with publications through the mail, SNMCF (Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility) will not allow it,” the lawsuit states. 

The books are about much more than entertainment for the inmates, Moskowitz said. With books, prisoners can educate themselves and engage with the world and with their loved ones.

“These kinds of family relationships have been shown to be really important and really helpful in reducing recidivism,” she said. “What is often less talked about is the ability for folks to connect with people on the outside as well.”

Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.