California bans porn in prisons

By The Associated Press

09.24.02

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Prison inmates have been banned from receiving pornography because of complaints from female prison guards that the material prompts inappropriate behavior.

In imposing the ban Sept. 10, prison officials said the materials fueled a hostile working environment.

"This is not a question of the inmates enjoying a little private time in their cells. They are doing it to make the officers angry," state corrections spokesman Russ Heimerich told the Los Angeles Times for Sept. 22 editions.

Before the ban, prison officials had allowed inmates to receive Playboy, Penthouse and other explicit material, censoring only highly offensive depictions.

But as the number of female correctional officers has increased, there has been a corresponding rise in complaints about inappropriate conduct by male inmates, Heimerich said.

"It is posted all over the place — on their lockers, on the walls of their cells. They even put it in their pants pocket," said Sheree Ghidelli, a guard at Pleasant Valley State Prison.

Heimerich says the department worries about possible sexual harassment lawsuits. "We're vulnerable," he said. "We had to take action."

Inmate advocates and civil libertarians called the ban an overreaction and said it violates an inmate's First Amendment rights.

"This is like banning Catcher in the Rye because it might induce a prisoner to say something disrespectful," said David Fathi, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

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