An Odd kind of punishment for prisoners in SC Jail

[DaBownca]

or just more ignorance?
http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/14/...olitics-huffpo


If you're a criminal who likes to read — and/or religious, but not Christian — then the last place you want to be jailed in is Moncks Corner, South Carolina.
According to legal complaints, the only book, good or otherwise, that inmates at the Berkeley County Detention Center can readily get their hands on is the Bible. Granted, it's a bestseller, and there's a lot in those pages to keep one occupied and even entertained — mind-bending seven-day creation of the universe, violence, sex, walking on water, resurrection, etc. — but sometimes you just want to read an Agatha Christie mystery. Or, if you're Jewish, the Torah, in a copy without the extra testament. Of particular interest to prisoners just might be reading material on prisoners' rights.
(More on TIME.com: What prisoners are reading at Gitmo)
The U.S. Department of Justice, brandishing its own sacred text — the U.S. Constitution — has filed a complaint against the sheriff's office that runs the alleged book-barring jail. It's moving to join a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union last October. The ACLU suit was filed on behalf of Prison Legal News, whose publications, the suit alleges, have been turned away from the jail since 2008. The AP quotes an email, sent to PLN publishers, from jail official First Sgt. K. Habersham: “Our inmates are only allowed to receive soft back bibles in the mail directly from the publisher…. They are not allowed to have magazines, newspapers, or any other type of books.”
The AP also quotes, however, the defendants' attorney Sandy Senn, and according to her, all religious texts — yup, vampire and witchcraft ones included — have been allowed since 2009. Inmates “can even purchase Korans and things like that from the commissary if they want,” Senn says.
But according to the DOJ complaint, “the only book, magazine, newspaper or religious publication that Defendants consistently permit prisoners to possess is the Bible.” Not only does this violate the First Amendment (both its speech and establishment clauses), the DOJ charges, but also the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. The DOJ cites several specific examples of the jail's "unlawful pattern or practice of denying mail to prisoners," including the case of one man who was denied materials for a correspondence education course.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that Berkeley County Sheriff/defendant H. Wayne DeWitt "maintains that any actions taken at the jail are justified to preserve health and safety, and to further the pursuit of ‘legitimate penological objectives.' ” By the way, among the books rejected by the jail, according to the ACLU, is one for prisoners called Protecting Your Health and Safety.


Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/14/...#ixzz1JqeL7Ev3

[MarkK]

or just more ignorance?
http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/14/...olitics-huffpo


If you're a criminal who likes to read — and/or religious, but not Christian — then the last place you want to be jailed in is Moncks Corner, South Carolina.
According to legal complaints, the only book, good or otherwise, that inmates at the Berkeley County Detention Center can readily get their hands on is the Bible. Granted, it's a bestseller, and there's a lot in those pages to keep one occupied and even entertained — mind-bending seven-day creation of the universe, violence, sex, walking on water, resurrection, etc. — but sometimes you just want to read an Agatha Christie mystery. Or, if you're Jewish, the Torah, in a copy without the extra testament. Of particular interest to prisoners just might be reading material on prisoners' rights.
(More on TIME.com: What prisoners are reading at Gitmo)
The U.S. Department of Justice, brandishing its own sacred text — the U.S. Constitution — has filed a complaint against the sheriff's office that runs the alleged book-barring jail. It's moving to join a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union last October. The ACLU suit was filed on behalf of Prison Legal News, whose publications, the suit alleges, have been turned away from the jail since 2008. The AP quotes an email, sent to PLN publishers, from jail official First Sgt. K. Habersham: “Our inmates are only allowed to receive soft back bibles in the mail directly from the publisher…. They are not allowed to have magazines, newspapers, or any other type of books.”
The AP also quotes, however, the defendants' attorney Sandy Senn, and according to her, all religious texts — yup, vampire and witchcraft ones included — have been allowed since 2009. Inmates “can even purchase Korans and things like that from the commissary if they want,” Senn says.
But according to the DOJ complaint, “the only book, magazine, newspaper or religious publication that Defendants consistently permit prisoners to possess is the Bible.” Not only does this violate the First Amendment (both its speech and establishment clauses), the DOJ charges, but also the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. The DOJ cites several specific examples of the jail's "unlawful pattern or practice of denying mail to prisoners," including the case of one man who was denied materials for a correspondence education course.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that Berkeley County Sheriff/defendant H. Wayne DeWitt "maintains that any actions taken at the jail are justified to preserve health and safety, and to further the pursuit of ‘legitimate penological objectives.' ” By the way, among the books rejected by the jail, according to the ACLU, is one for prisoners called Protecting Your Health and Safety.


Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/14/...#ixzz1JqeL7Ev3

That is fucked up...very interesting, thanks for posting.

[LOKEE]

"With a book of this kind in my hand, my own human nature, and the facts of my experience, to help me, I was equal to a contest with the religious advocates of slavery . . . Nevertheless, the increase of knowledge was attended with such bitter, as well as sweet results. The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest slavery, and my enslavers" -Frederick Douglas

[DaBownca]

"With a book of this kind in my hand, my own human nature, and the facts of my experience, to help me, I was equal to a contest with the religious advocates of slavery . . . Nevertheless, the increase of knowledge was attended with such bitter, as well as sweet results. The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest slavery, and my enslavers" -Frederick Douglas

Deep

[panklady]

To quote the warden "The Shawshenk Redemption"...

"...you heart belongs to God but your a** belongs to me."

Folk who can't read are going to have a time trying to decipher The Bible or any other religious reading. They're gonna need some Dick and Jane books in there somewhere.

[DaBownca]

To quote the warden "The Shawshenk Redemption"...

"...you heart belongs to God but your a** belongs to me."

Folk who can't read are going to have a time trying to decipher The Bible or any other religious reading. They're gonna need some Dick and Jane books in there somewhere.

I think they get the dick.....oh you said BOOKS
Ok back to the seriouslness of the topic. I know a lot of cats who kept their rights from being violated by picking up some law books in the prison library. Of course, the downside is you end up with this cat but you see my point.

[syko-nel]

This is a county jail run by a county sheriff. I was in jasper county jail S.C. 10 years ago and i was allowed out once a week for an hour. There are no rights in the south. Watch where you tread. Peace.