OR: Court Deals Blow to Prisoners’ Rights

An Oregon prisoner lost a First Amendment case in January when a Federal Appeals Court decided that Oregon prisons are allowed to bar some magazines. At issue were two publications.

An Oregon prisoner lost a First Amendment case in January when a Federal Appeals Court decided that Oregon prisons are allowed to bar some magazines. At issue were two publications. The first, Muscle Elegance, was censored as having “sexual content,” which a corrections expert stated “may result in prohibited sexual activity or unwanted sexual behavior, including rape.” The second publication, White-Dwarf, was cited as a role-playing magazine, which prison officials banned “to prevent inmates from placing themselves in fantasy roles that reduce accountability and substitute raw power for legitimate authority.”

The court’s position stated that prisoners do not lose all constitutional rights while incarcerated, but that rights must be balanced against the prison management’s interests. Last year, the courts ruled in favor of prisoners’ First Amendment rights when they struck down an Oregon DOC rule banning 3rd class mail in the prisons.

Source: The Oregonian