THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030449
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
Publishers must be given a chance to appeal when Virginia prison officials deny inmates access to their publications, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a Department of Corrections policy that barred two inmates from receiving Gallery magazine violated publishers' First Amendment rights.
Chief Judge Sam J. Ervin wrote in the unanimous opinion that ``publishers are entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard when their publications are disapproved for receipt by inmate subscribers.''
The court sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Samuel G. Wilson of Roanoke with instructions to determine an adequate process for publishers to respond when their publications are banned.
Michael Flora and Donald Hodges, inmates at the Keen Mountain Correctional Center, sued after prison officials refused to let them have their June and September 1992 issues of Gallery, which features photos of nude women. Prison officials based their decision on written content, not the photos.
Montcalm Publishing Corp., which publishes the magazine, joined in the lawsuit after Flora requested a refund.
Department of Corrections regulations allow prison officials to deny an inmate access to publications, including those considered obscene, on a case-by-case basis. The inmate must be informed of the decision and given a right to appeal to a Publication Review Committee.
The appeals court said that procedure does not adequately protect the publisher's rights because an inmate cannot effectively argue for a publication he has not seen.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA PRISON READING MATERIAL PRISONERS by CNB