ACLU wants porn to be allowed for South Carolina inmates

[The Northerner]

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (KABC) -- The American Civil Liberties Union is pushing for porn at a detention center in Moncks Corner, South Carolina.

The move came after reports surfaced that the facility only allowed inmates to read the Bible. But prison officials said that isn't true and inmates have a wide variety of reading material at their disposal.

The ACLU said it wants prisoners to be able to read and view pornography. Lawyers for the jail said that just won't happen.

"If they don't like the wording in some of our policies, we'll be happy to try and create better wording for them. But, there are certain issues that we're just not going to be able to bend on," said Sandra J. Senn, an attorney for the Hill-Finklea Detention Center in Berkeley County.

Officials believe porn will lead to more assaults and create a hostile environment.

A preliminary hearing on the matter is set to take place next month.

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/national_world&id=8162220

[sharp_stick]

1. I love the ACLU and their mission

but sometimes they seem to pick cases just to make themselves look like idiots for the media.

[PeaceNikki]

5. And sometimes the media takes tiny bits of a suit and makes them the focus.

This suit is not about porn.

[sharp_stick]

11. Now I know that

and I got caught because I, like many others, didn't read it properly first.

[exboyfil]

7. While porn may be seen as exploitive

What is really wrong with prisoners viewing non-violent images of consenting adults? We had a former Surgeon General that believed that masturbation was healthier than engaging in risky behaviors. I guess it comes back to answering the question whether porn would make a person less likely to engage in risky/coercive behavior or not. The porn already exists (just like fetal tissue), and if it does good, then what is the problem.

I know that arguments exist about objectifing individuals by accessing porn, but many studies say it is actually cathartic.

[Ian David]

2. They can have The Bible AND The New Testament. n/t

[Riftaxe]

8. That should be enough sex and violence

to placate anyone... :P

[Ian David]

3. Because right after I masturbate, the first thing I want to do is punch someone in the face.

:sarcasm:

[PeaceNikki]

4. Ridiculous spin on it; ridiculous headline.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/may/29/berkeley-jail-tries-to-avoid-religious-bias/

[Blue Owl]

6. Why in our glorious privatized prisons -- anything is possible...

We don't need no "big government" telling our prisons how to run.

I say let the Koch Brothers make all the decisions.

:sarcasm:

[Spike89]

9. Local TV sites often have horridly simplified stories

This one is almost comical in how it tosses out some really interesting issues and focuses on a tiny element that they can use to make the ACLU seem silly. The ACLU simply wants prisoners to be able to get and read materials without the prison deciding what they should read. I'm pretty sure the ACLU doesn't really care how much porn the inmates read and it wouldn't bother them if no inmates order it.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. Interesting. Has the freedom of acess to reading materials ever been

posited in the courts as a collorary to freedom of speech? What good is the freedom of speech if access to that speech is denied?