Pennsylvania did not violate the free-speech rights of troublesome inmates by keeping secular newspapers and magazines away from them, the Supreme Court ruled today, reports the Associated Press. Voting 6 to 3, the court said the state could use newspapers as incentives to get inmates in a high-security unit to behave themselves. Justice Stephen Breyer said Pennsylvania’s victory could be short-lived, depending on whether there is another constitutional challenge to the high-security unit’s rules.
The decision reverses a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. Justice Samuel Alito who sided with Pennsylvania when he served on the appellate court; he did not participate in the case at the high court.
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/28/AR2006062800803.html