Banks v. Beard.

U.S. Appeals Court

NEWSPAPERS

PUBLICATIONS

PHOTOS

Banks v. Beard, 399 F.3d 134 (3rd Cir. 2005). A state inmate brought a free speech challenge to a state corrections policy on behalf of himself and other similarly situated inmates. The policy restricted access to newspapers, magazines, and photographs by inmates who are placed in a prison's long-term segregation unit. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the state and the inmate appealed. The appeals court reversed and remanded, finding that a valid, rational connection did not exist between the policy and a stated rehabilitation objective, nor prison security concerns. The court noted that confinement in the unit was not based on a specific rule infraction or for a specific duration, and that an inmate could remain in the unit under the publication ban indefinitely. According to the court, there was no evidence that inmates misused periodicals or photographs in ways described by corrections officials, such as to fuel fires or as crude weapons. There was no evidence regarding the effect of the ban on the frequency of fires, and inmates were permitted to possess other items that could be used for the purposes that were supposedly targeted by the policy. The court noted that inmates had no alternative means to exercise their First Amendment right of access to a reasonable amount of newspapers, magazines and photographs. The court described alternative policies, such as establishing reading periods in which periodicals could be delivered to inmates' cells and later collected, establishing a limit on the number of photographs that an inmate could have in his cell at one time, or escorting inmates to a secure mini-law library to read periodicals of their choosing. The policy bans all newspapers and magazines from a publisher or prison library, or from any source, unless the publication is religious or legal in nature. (State Correctional Institution at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)