Florida prison confiscates newspaper over ‘Celebrity Cipher’ word game

A Florida prison refused to deliver copies of a local newspaper to an incarcerated subscriber, claiming that a puzzle game in the publication “may be used to create coded messages indecipherable by staff.”

In July, officials at Avon Park Correctional Institution impounded two issues of the Key West Citizen over concerns with the “Celebrity Cipher,” a syndicated word puzzle that appears next to the crossword. Staff asserted that the game violates a Florida Department of Corrections rule prohibiting “publication[s] … written in code,” according to a copy of the impoundment notices shared with The Appeal. The issues were impounded pending a review by the FDC Literature Review Committee, which is scheduled to meet on Aug. 31.

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