Inmates Sue To Overturn Nude Magazine Ban

[The Straight Story]

Inmates Sue To Overturn Nude Magazine Ban

POSTED: 7:04 am EDT July 12, 2006
UPDATED: 7:08 am EDT July 12, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS -- Two inmates have filed a lawsuit against the Indiana Department of Correction to overturn a policy that bars magazines such as Playboy and Hustler.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis seeks class-action status on behalf of more than 20,000 state prisoners and challenges a policy that went into effect July 1 barring adult magazines and other printed material that depict nudity or sexual content.

The policy could prohibit sexually explicit letters and publications such as National Geographic magazine and daily newspapers, according to the complaint, which said the new rule violates the plaintiffs' civil rights.

"The policy is written so broadly that it includes within its prohibitions such things as personal letters between prisoners and loved ones and much of the world's great literature and art," said the complaint, which was prepared by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

http://www.local6.com/news/9502951/detail.html

[Taverner]

1. LET THEM HAVE PORN

Seriously - do I really have to explain this?

Lack of sexual release makes people more aggressive. Fighters don't have sex the night before a fight, and jihadis refrain from sex before they go on suicide missions.

The more the inmates service themselves, the less likely they will be to do something violent.

[Xithras]

3. That's technically incorrect.

In the short term, you are correct, but in the long term you are wrong. Testosterone is responsible for many aspects of male behavior, and is one of the root drivers of aggression and violent behavior. When a person is sexually active and is then forced to refrain from sex, there IS usually a short term spike in testosterone levels that can be tied to increased aggression. This increase only lasts for a few days however.

After a few days without sex, the male testosterone level "normalizes" and returns to an average level. After a longer period of celibacy (from a few weeks to a couple of months, depending on the person), body testosterone levels begin a long gradual decline. This reduces aggression, and may explain why celibate monks are such quiet and pleasant people (;))

The problem with porn is that it keeps the inmate sexually active and keeps their testosterone levels up. If masturbation can only be achieved once every few days, the presence of pornography can even lead to an increase in testosterone and aggression levels. That's a bad thing.

But when it comes right down to it, porn isn't required for masturbation anyway. Human males have been self-gratifying for countless millenia without any problems...photographic porn is an invention of the last century, and has only come into widespread use in the last 50 years or so. If you really need to look at pictures of Jenna Jamison naked in order to achieve climax, you need serious counseling.

[Taverner]

4. "If you really need to look at pictures of Jenna Jamison..."

Nah but its more fun that way :)

Thing is I think celibacy is not possible for 80% of the population. As Saint Marc Perkel put it "Sure, many people have lived lives of celibacy but you did not come from these people."

[mongo]

8. Someone needs serious counseling

but it ain't the inmates who want to read Hustler.

The problem with porn is that it keeps the inmate sexually active and keeps their testosterone levels up. If masturbation can only be achieved once every few days, the presence of pornography can even lead to an increase in testosterone and aggression levels. That's a bad thing.


I'm sure that without porn the would never masturbate or have any sexual thoughts. And you know that non-violent drug offenders, petty theives etc. will just turn into Ted Bundy if you let them see Jenna naked. :sarcasm:

[Xithras]

13. Are you arguing the science?

This is all well proven stuff that is completely undisputed. Increased testosterone increases the likelyhood of aggressive behavior. Sexual activity increases testosterone levels, whether it's self-gratification or partner sex. Decreased sexual activity leads to decreased testosterone levels.

As I said in my OP, people have been masturbating since the beginning of time. Nothing new there, and nothing wrong with that. What you want to avoid in a prison environment, however, is the introduction of any material that might increase the levels of sexual activity. A bored prisoner who picks up his Hustler because he has nothing else to read is going to engage in sexual activity that might have otherwise not occurred. People will have sex no matter what, but pornography increases the amount of sex a person has. In a prison environment where one of the goals is to decrease aggression, attempting to decrease the amount of sex occurring is a valid way to achieve that.

[mongo]

15. Your thinly veiled "porn causes rape" argument

has never been proven, by a reputable study. In fact, there are a number of studies that suggest the opposite.

Are you saying that some non-violent offender is likely to rape a prisoner after reading Hustler?

While we're at it, why don't we ban all sports and exercise at prisons and give every prisoner Thorazine to boot? Somehow, I doubt if those ideas are palatable to you. But any excuse to demonize sexually oriented material that you find distasteful is a good excuse right?

Science? Bah!

[Xithras]

29. Umm...where did I say that porn causes rape?

I said that increased testosterone causes increased aggression. Big difference.

Man, are you on a hair trigger or what? I have no problem with porn...heck, I have hundreds of porn vids on my PC and my wife and I enjoy it regularly. Up until a year ago, I also ran a fileserver that provided nearly 40,000 porn images to file sharing networks including FastTrack and Gnutella (along with my video collection). I think that anti-porn people are conservative sticks who need to pull their heads out of their bibles and have a little fun.

That said, I do recognize that there are times and places where its presence may not be appropriate. In a prison environment, where one of the objectives IS to reduce the aggression and alter the personalities of prisoners, the presence of an aggravating agent like porn can be problematic. I don't have a problem with porn, only porn in prisons.

[LoZoccolo]

17. Is this a eugenics argument?

You seem to be implying that my genes which produce more testosterone than women make me more dangerous to society. Could you clarify?

[Xithras]

31. Not exactly.

Increased testosterone increases the propensity for aggressive behavior. That's undisputed science, and any doctor can confirm it for you. So yes, in a way men ARE more likely to act aggressively because of it.

It's not just a male hormone, however. Women have testosterone as well, and their levels vary from person to person. Just like men, women with higher testosterone levels are far more likely to have an increased sexual appetite and an increased propensity to aggressive behavior.

Human beings are biological creatures, and many of our behavioral tendencies are driven by genetic and chemical factors. Aggression and sexuality are intimately tied together in the human brain, and their chemical driver is predominately the hormone testosterone. If you reduce testosterone levels, you can reduce both sexual activity and aggression.

BTW, as a scientist I have no opposition to the concept of eugenics, so holding that out as bait doesn't worry me. I firmly oppose all attempts at eugenics that rely on force or coercion, but I do believe that humanity can be improved socially, genetically, and technologically far beyond where we are today. The fact is, modern society embraces practically every single goal of the modern eugenics movement (genetic manipulation is still controversial), but shuns the word "eugenics". In reality, prenatal testing and screening, genetic counseling, birth control, in vitro fertilization, and genetic engineering are all aspects of the modern eugenics movements goals to improve the plight of mankind. We just hate the word "eugenics".

[LoZoccolo]

33. I think I'll just let your opinion speak for itself. n/t

[bloom]

24. "The problem with porn"

There are other problems as well - porn often promotes obnoxious opinions of women. Suggests that they don't have a brain or whatever - like it doesn't matter if they do. Plus some of these magazines have a history of rape cartoons and even child molesting cartoons -as if those things are something to joke about. There is no way that should be in prisons.

http://www.hustlingtheleft.com/

I don't think that there is any question that such nonsense is detrimental to people's worldview - at least a worldview that sees people as equals. (that would be the problem with heterosexual porn, anyway).

I agree that there is no reason that porn should be necessary for anybody anyway.

[Rosemary2205]

28. Ghandi didn't have sex for 37 years.

he seemed like a pretty mellow guy.

[Swamp Rat]

2. National Geographic? Private letters??? Fucking ridiculous!

LET THEM HAVE PORN!!! or else deal with the consequences of the sexual frustration to ensue.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. Cruel and unusual.

Access to porn is a basic human right.

[originalpckelly]

7. "Give me pornography or give me death...

oh crap, shouldn't have said that. Now my death penalty appeals are over with!" --Prisoner Somewhere on Death Row in America

:rofl:

[KingFlorez]

6. They are in prison, they are not supposed to get what they want

I don't believe they should be allowed to have it, they are being punished for a crime.

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. Ban the Porn

I wholeheartedly agree with that notion. While we're at it, I think we should ban body-building in prison that allows the most agressive and violent criminals in our society to turn themselves into hulking gorillas capable of overpowering ANYONE who isn't pointing a gun at them.

On the other hand, I've seen posters here hold tight to the notion that they should be given sex change operations simply because they say they "feel like a woman". How insane.

[mongo]

21. and I suppose

that prisoners shouldn't get to see a Dr or go to the ER "simply because" they are having chest pains, or get insolin "simply because" they have diabetes.

You should apply for a job at Blackwater. You're just the kind of gaurd they are looking for at the US conentration camps they're building.

[Clark2008]

25. That's pushing the envelope a bit far.

Taking care of a prisoner's health is one thing, but providing them with porn is quite another.

You may can even argue that masterbation is good for the psyche, but they don't NEED porn to masterbate. Come on!

However, as I said below, I don't care if they have nudie mags as long as my taxpayer dollars aren't paying for the subscriptions. They or their families can pay for it themselves.

[mongo]

32. I was responding to the comment that making an accomodation

for prisoners with gender identity "disorder" was insane.

Didn't make that real clear in my post.

No where in America do your tax dollars pay for porn for prisoners. In most cases, it has to be sent from a bookstore (not from a person), and is paid for by the inmate's loved ones.

[LostinVA]

27. I actually agree about the body building

Although they deserve exercise, specifically cardio.

[Fleshdancer]

9. Well gee, how else can we accomodate our criminals???

Seriously, the responses in this thread are mind blowing. Prison is not a vacation and inmates are not entitled to Playboy and Hustler. This is ridiculous.

[noonwitch]

10. I'll bet the COs are not exactly thrilled with this

I once knew a guy who did some time in Florida. He said the corrections officers looked forward to the day the Playboys hit the mailroom, because it was usually the quietest day of the month. The guys would get their mags and retire to their cells to enjoy them in as much privacy as they can get.

Of course, they should not get anything illegal, like kiddie porn or violent porn, but I see no problem with Playboy or Hustler.

Who is objecting? Religious whacko state legislators? I'm sure it's not the people who actually work in the prisons.

[madmusic]

11. This is already a done deal:

High court refuses to hear case on prisoner access to porn

David Hudson
First Amendment Center

06.28.99

Printer-friendly page

The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused to hear a First Amendment challenge to a federal law prohibiting the Federal Bureau of Prisons from allowing the distribution of sexually explicit publications to prisoners.

The 1996 law, attached as an amendment to a comprehensive budget bill, prohibits the bureau from using federal funds to "distribute or make available" to prisoners "commercially published information or material" known to be "sexually explicit or featuring nudity."

Prior to 1996, federal regulations allowed prison officials to restrict access to material "only if it determined detrimental to the security, good order or discipline or if it might facilitate criminal activity."

Three inmates, Playboy Enterprises, Inc. and the publisher of Penthouse argued that the law violated inmates' First Amendment rights. Government attorneys, however, said the law served the legitimate goal of rehabilitating prisoners.

In August 1997, U.S. District Judge Stanley Sporkin struck down the law, finding that it was a "content-based statute with a sole focus on the sexual nature of the publications it seeks to prohibit."

On appeal, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed in Amatel v. Reno, writing that "the government could rationally have seen a connection between pornography and rehabilitative values."

Attorneys for Playboy and Penthouse argued before the appeals court that the government had failed to show a causal link between prisoners' access to pornography and rehabilitation efforts. However, the appeals court ruled there was no need to establish such a causal link.

"The evidence is not conclusive on the efficacy of a ban on pornography in promoting prisoners' rehabilitation," the court wrote. "For judges seeking only a reasonable connection between legislative goals and actions, scientific indeterminacy is determinative."

Because the Supreme Court refused to hear Amatel v. Reno, the appeals court decision stands.

http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=10704

In short, the are SOL.

[bluestateguy]

14. I suggest a compromise

No Playboy or Hustler, but Stuff and Maxim will be allowed.

[LoZoccolo]

16. Congress shall make no law...

...respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Oh, and: :popcorn:

[mongo]

18. Thank you!!!

It's getting really hard to be a patriot in this day and age.

[bloom]

20. That doesn't apply to prison.

Not in my opinion it doesn't. They don't get a press. They don't get to assemble when they want.

[mongo]

22. Let's forbid them from praying while we're at it..... n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

19. If our prisons were reserved for the truly dangerous and violent

I might be more amenable to an "ahh, screw 'em, they're in the slammer" attitude.

As it is, something like half our prison population is in there for non-violent drug offenses. Since we seem to be in no danger of reversing that trend any time soon, as long as they're not bothering anyone else, I think the humane thing is to let these people read (or masturbate to) your run of the mill smutty magazines.

[Clark2008]

23. As long as the taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for the

subscriptions, I don't care.

If the inmates want to look at naked pictures, big whoop. Where I draw the line is my money being used to pay for it.

[SammyBlue]

26. Ban porn. . .bring back good, wholesome Anal Rape!!!

:wtf:

[bloom]

30. That would be a good place to have a controlled study

One prison with porn - another without. Have inmates who are in for similar crimes. Rape, murder, batteries - violent crimes, esp. See which group has more (anal) rape - the one with porn - or the one without.


Maybe someone has done the study already. :shrug: Maybe that's why the ban.