NCJ Number
98105
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 65 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring-Summer 1985) Pages: 107-118
Date Published
1985
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article examines how the Federal and State courts have defined the first amendment rights of the prison press and the inmate journalist over the past decade.
Abstract
While the hands-off policy toward problems arising from the administration of prisons has been abandoned, inmates do not enjoy an absolute right to publish all materials in a prison newspaper. Recent Federal and State court decisions suggest that inmates have been granted greater freedom of expression rights than those afforded to journalists who work for private newspapers. The rulings indicate that prisoners retain those first amendment rights that are not inconsistent with their status as prisoners or with legitimate penological objectives. However, the courts have disagreed over the discretionary power granted prison officials who must regulate content of a prison newspaper by balancing prisoners' rights with any perceived threat resulting from publication to prison security, order, or rehabilitation. In the absence of a controlling U.S. Supreme Court decision, rulings on censorship of prison newspapers have been inconsistent on the Federal and the State level. However, recent rulings suggest that prison officials will have to bear an increasingly heavy burden in justifying censorship. Three footnotes and 20 references are included.