Writers rejoice at ruling against ‘cruel and ludicrous’ prison books ban

Authors including JK Rowling, Ian McEwan and Philip Pullman cheer high court judgment against embargo on sending prisoners books

News: Prison book ban unlawful, court rules

The high court’s ruling that the ban on sending books to prisoners is unlawful has been hailed as “the halting of an iniquitous and draconian ban” and a “rare victory for common sense” by the award-winning novelists who have battled for it to be quashed.

Announcing the judgment, Mr Justice Collins said that justice secretary Chris Grayling’s blanket policy, which prevented families sending in small items to prisoners, including books, should be amended, describing it as strange to regard books as a privilege. “I see no good reason, in the light of the importance of books for prisoners, to restrict beyond what is required by volumetric control … and reasonable measures relating to frequency of parcels and security considerations,” he added.

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