ROANOKE TIMES Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310057 SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY DATELINE: RICHMOND SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Attorney General Jim Gilmore has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court ruling that state prison officials violated a magazine publisher's First Amendment rights.
The 4th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in April that publishers must be given a chance to argue their case before inmates are denied access to their publications.
The case stems from the Department of Corrections' refusal to allow two Keen Mountain Correctional Center inmates to have their June and September 1992 issues of Gallery magazine, which features photos of nude women.
Prison officials said their decision was based on the magazine's ``Feedback'' column, not the photos. They contend the column is obscene in its description of sex acts.
Gilmore wants the high court to rule that the appeals court is meddling in administrative matters and has created an unjustified burden on the Corrections Department.
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