An appeals court has affirmed a decision by Wisconsin prison authorities to ban the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons for inmates. Inmate Kevin Singer challenged the ban, according to the New York Daily News. But the court decreed, “Punishment is a fundamental aspect of imprisonment, and prisons may choose to punish inmates by preventing them from participating in some of their favorite recreations.”
Singer, serving life for brutally killing his sister’s boyfriend with a sledge hammer, has been an avid Dungeons & Dragons players since childhood. He would regularly play the game with his fellow prisoners. This went on for more than two years, until 2004 when prison officials confiscated his role playing books and tools. The prison banned the game because it “promotes fantasy role playing, competitive hostility, violence, addictive escape behaviors, and possible gambling.” Singer complained to prison officials, then took them to court.