Shredding legal mail ain’t gonna solve the prison drug problem!

It’s true! We’re opposed to a new MDOC mail policy. 

The Michigan Department of Corrections has announced that it will be implementing this new policy early next year. HUMANITY FOR PRISIONERS has officially expressed opposition to the new rule. Brad Warner, our Intake & Communications Specialist/Special Projects Manager, testified before a house subcommittee in Lansing. Brad speaks with experience and authority. He served 33 years in our state prison system! 

I’m sharing space today to give Brad the opportunity to explain. 

The Illusion of Safety: Why Shredding Legal Mail Won't Fix the MDOC's Contraband Crisis 

The Michigan Department of Corrections has announced a controversial new policy slated for January 5, 2026: All confidential and legal mail sent to incarcerated individuals will be photocopied, and the original documents officially shredded. While the department frames this as a "common sense" measure to curb the flow of synthetic drugs, we must call it what it is: performative security that erodes constitutional rights while ignoring the actual source of the problem. 

The Wrong Target 

The department's justification rests on the claim that legal mail is a primary vector for contraband. However, this narrative collapses under scrutiny. Everyone familiar with the system—including those living and working within it—knows that the overwhelming majority of contraband, including the synthetic drugs cited by the MDOC, does not enter through legal envelopes. It enters through the front gate. 

Consider the thousands of smartphones, chargers, and SIM cards confiscated inside Michigan prisons annually. These items cannot be flattened into a legal envelope. They are not drifting in via drone in such volumes. They are flooding the system because of internal vulnerabilities and staff involvement. Yet, instead of addressing this glaring corruption, the MDOC has chosen to target the sacred confidentiality of attorney-client privilege. 

Constitutional Costs 

Legal mail is a cornerstone of due process. For an incarcerated person, a letter from an attorney is often their only lifeline to justice. Implementing a policy where these sensitive, original documents are seized and destroyed in favor of photocopies fundamentally undermines the confidentiality required for a fair legal process. It tells incarcerated citizens that their constitutional rights are secondary to administrative convenience. 

Furthermore, this policy creates unnecessary bureaucratic bloat. The costs associated with photocopying every piece of legal mail will likely be passed down, directly or indirectly, to the prisoner population—potentially raiding Prisoner Benefit Funds to solve a security problem that should be the state’s financial responsibility. 

A Call for Real Solutions 

We are witnessing a tragedy of overdoses and sickness inside our prisons, and that demands action. But effective action requires honesty. Restrictive mail policies and vendor-based systems have been in place for years, yet the crisis has only deepened. If shredding mail were the solution, we would have seen results by now. 

Humanity for Prisoners stands firmly against this measure. True reform requires the courage to tackle staff corruption, improve independent oversight, and invest in genuine substance abuse treatment. My words to members of the Michigan House of Representatives: “I urge you to reject this policy. Instead, use your power of the purse to restore professional wages and pensions. Give the administration the resources—and the leverage they need to hire the best, retain the best, and finally have the fortitude to purge the bad actors who are actually bringing the drugs in.” 

Shredding legal mail is expensive theater—it may look like action, but it leaves the backdoor to contraband wide open. 

Brad Warner