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| Restricting magazine in prison violates free speech, lawsuit claims |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/15/2003 |
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The publishers of a prison inmate-oriented magazine have sued several Colorado prison wardens for allegedly preventing inmates from receiving the publication. Prison Legal News, a nonprofit group based in Seattle, publishes a monthly journal with articles often written by prisoners. But officials said subscribers at the maximum-security federal prison in Florence sometimes are barred from receiving the magazine in violation of their First Amendment Rights. Prison wardens can prevent certain publications from coming into their facilities, the suit said, but the group has not been told why its magazines have been rejected. ''PLN primarily reports on legal matters related to prison conditions and prisoner rights, so our position is that what we report is protected speech,'' Prison Legal News spokesman Hans Sherrer said. The suit asks that the prison be forced to deliver the magazine to inmate subscribers and that the prison's ban on inmate-to-inmate correspondence be declared unconstitutional as it applies to the magazine. The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver also seeks unspecified money damages. Named as defendants are Warden Robert Hood, former warden Michael Pugh, Bureau of Federal Prisons Director Harley Lappin and former director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer. |
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