Is Porn A Prisoner’s Right?

Via the Daily Beast today comes the story of Kyle Richards, a 21-year-old prisoner being held for bank robbery at the Macomb County Jail in Michigan. Richards recently filed a lawsuit against the State of Michigan and Governor Rick Snyder, claiming his civil rights are being violated because the jailer won’t allow him to possess “adult” magazines.

In a handwritten lawsuit, Richards makes the argument that denying his request for porn subjects him to a “poor standard of living” and “sexual and sensory deprivation.”

According to CBS News, the Michigan Department of Corrections does allow pornographic material, within certain guidelines, but the material is banned from the county jail where Richards is currently housed.

Mansfield Frazier, a columnist for the Daily Beast, thinks that by denying the porn, the Sheriff is imposing a policy that is indefensible in court.

I agree with him.

The American Civil Liberties Union says prisons have a lot of leeway in this area, but it seems to me that by allowing individual Sheriffs and people in power to make arbitrary decisions about what kinds of sexual materials are allowed to prisoners, we are going down a very slippery slope. Plus, I’d assume that a sexually satisfied prisoner would probably be more well-behaved in prison than a sexually frustrated one.

This is just my opinion, as someone who has never been to prison but feels passionately about sex positivity and fighting anti-sex and anti-porn moral crusades. But it’s far from a thorough legal analysis. Lawyers, corrections officers, masturbators/porn enthusiasts out there: what do you think?

Brooklyn, NY

Lori Adelman started blogging with Feministing in 2008, and now runs partnerships and strategy as a co-Executive Director. She is also the Director of Youth Engagement at Women Deliver, where she promotes meaningful youth engagement in international development efforts, including through running the award-winning Women Deliver Young Leaders Program. Lori was formerly the Director of Global Communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and has also worked at the United Nations Foundation on the Secretary-General's flagship Every Woman Every Child initiative, and at the International Women’s Health Coalition and Human Rights Watch. As a leading voice on women’s rights issues, Lori frequently consults, speaks and publishes on feminism, activism and movement-building. A graduate of Harvard University, Lori has been named to The Root 100 list of the most influential African Americans in the United States, and to Forbes Magazine‘s list of the “30 Under 30” successful mediamakers. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Lori Adelman is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Partnerships.

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