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| Court Reinstates Inmate's Suit to Father Child |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 09/13/2001 |
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A federal appeals court recently reinstated a civil rights suit by a California man serving a life prison sentence who wants to artificially inseminate his wife. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reversed a Sacramento federal judge who said that William Gerber had no legal right to mail his semen to his 46-year-old wife. Dissenting Judge Barry G. Silverman said the opinion allows Gerber 'to procreate from prison via FedEx,' and 'does not accept the fact that there are certain downsides to being confined in prison.' Writing for the majority, Judge Myron H. Bright said the panel was reinstating Gerber's case because the 'right to procreate survives incarceration.' The court also ordered the state Department of Corrections to show why the inmate's plan would represent a security risk. If the state fails, Gerber can mail the semen, the court ruled. Gerber would be able to try to father a child during a conjugal visit if he was not serving a life term. For three decades, most California inmates with good prison records have been granted almost unsupervised overnight visits with loved ones in prison cottages. Prisoner rights groups say conjugal visits foster good prison behavior. Gerber was convicted of illegally discharging a firearm, making terrorist threats and using narcotics, and was sentenced under California's three strikes law. |
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