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| Death penalty foe sues over rejected inmate newspaper |
| By Chicago Tribune |
| Published: 07/19/2004 |
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An activist against the death penalty filed a federal lawsuit last Thursday challenging state prison officials' refusal to distribute to Stateville inmates a quarterly newspaper made up of articles written by prisoners there. The lawsuit by William Ryan, 69, of Westchester contends his 1st Amendment rights were violated when mailings of Stateville Speaks, the newspaper he published, were returned by officials at the maximum-security prison near Joliet. "All we're really asking them to do is to deliver the mail," Ryan said at a news conference. The Uptown People's Law Center and the law firms of Loevy & Loevy and Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal LLP have joined together to represent Ryan on a pro bono basis. The lawsuit names as defendants five high-ranking officials with the Illinois Department of Corrections, including its director, Roger Walker, and Kenneth Briley, Stateville's warden. Sergio Molina, a spokesman for the Corrections Department who is named in the lawsuit, said a publication-review committee at Stateville had rejected the first issue. He said that didn't mean another issue wouldn't be approved. Molina said he didn't know the reasons for the committee's decision, but he said security concerns are usually involved. Molina suggested Stateville prison has only so many resources and personnel, and that the priority had to remain on the day-to-day management of the maximum-security facility. Ryan had hoped the inmates could publish the newspaper, but he dropped that idea when prison officials balked at the cost of guarding the three inmates who would produce the publication. With Ryan prepared to produce the newspaper outside prison, the issue comes down to Stateville simply distributing the mailings to inmates, he said. Ryan said he hopes to distribute about 200 copies of State Speaks to Stateville inmates. Ryan said he is simply trying to provide inmates with an opportunity "to express themselves and engage in some positive activity." |
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