An Athens-based bookstore is challenging a Gwinnett County jail policy that bars independent booksellers from mailing books to prisoners. In oral arguments presented Thursday in federal court, attorneys for Avid Bookshop claimed that a jail policy allowing shipments only from certain publishers and two major retailers violates the bookstore’s First Amendment right to communicate with […]
Avid Bookshop, an Athens-based bookstore, is challenging a Gwinnett County jail policy that bars independent booksellers from mailing books to prisoners. Photo courtesy of Janet Geddis
An Athens-based bookstore is challenging a Gwinnett County jail policy that bars independent booksellers from mailing books to prisoners.
In oral arguments presented Thursday in federal court, attorneys for Avid Bookshop claimed that a jail policy allowing shipments only from certain publishers and two major retailers violates the bookstore’s First Amendment right to communicate with jail residents.
The lawsuit was filed against Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor and Jail Commander Benjamin Haynes in 2023, after the jail rejected a series of packages mailed from the bookstore on behalf of friends and relatives of those who were incarcerated. The jail’s policy states that books and magazines will be accepted “as long as they are mailed directly from the publisher or authorized retailer.” Only Amazon and Barnes & Noble are considered authorized retailers under the policy.
Pearson Cunningham, an attorney arguing on behalf of the sheriff, argued that the restriction is necessary to prevent contraband like drugs from being smuggled into the jail. Only accepting books from national retailers, he added, could reduce the risk of local community members tampering with the books that get delivered to prisoners.
Prison contraband is a documented problem across the state, with a 2024 report from the U.S. Department of Justice declaring that “contraband weapons, illicit drugs, and cellphones are commonplace” across Georgia prisons, violating prisoners’ Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment.
However, attorney Christina Lee, a legal fellow with the First Amendment Clinic at the University of Georgia, argued that there is “no rational relationship” between the bookstore being prevented from mailing books and the sheriff’s goal of keeping contraband out of the jail. The bookstore has also offered to ensure that books are shipped directly from the back room of the store to the jail, without the public having access to the books sent to prisoners.
Though the mail is one avenue for contraband to enter prisons, the data shows that drones and prison visitors are much more common ways to smuggle contraband in. Cunningham could not point to any cases where contraband entered the jail through a book mailed from an independent bookstore during Thursday’s hearing.
Avid Bookshop’s owner, Janet Geddis, emphasized the importance of having access to books, adding that independent bookstores can play an important role connecting with family members of those who are incarcerated and recommending titles to prisoners.
“I think everybody, regardless of their societal status or living arrangements, deserves to have access to books, and quality books,” Geddis said.
Clare Norins, who serves as director of the First Amendment Clinic, said she hoped to see the policy overturned.
“Certainly the jail has a legitimate interest in keeping drugs and other contraband out of the jail,” she said. “But in this case, the policy is an overreaction to that concern.”
The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Judge Tiffany Johnson, a Biden appointee, did not say when she would issue a ruling.
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