Well, at least it does in Wisconsin...

Quote from: Associated PressMADISON, Wis. — A man serving life in prison for first-degree intentional homicide lost his legal battle Monday to play Dungeons & Dragons behind bars.

Kevin T. Singer filed a federal lawsuit against officials at Wisconsin's Waupun prison, arguing that a policy banning all Dungeons & Dragons material violated his free speech and due process rights.

Prison officials instigated the Dungeons & Dragons ban among concerns that playing the game promoted gang-related activity and was a threat to security. Singer challenged the ban but the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld it as a reasonable policy.

Dungeons & Dragons players create fictional characters and carry out their adventures, often working together as a group, with the help of complicated rules.

Singer, 33, has been a devoted player of the fantasy role-playing game since he was a child, according to the court ruling. After the ban went into effect, prison officials confiscated dozens of Dungeons & Dragons books and magazines in his cell as well as a 96-page manuscript he had written detailing a potential scenario for the game that players could act out.

Prison officials enacted the ban in 2004 after an inmate sent an anonymous letter expressing concern about Singer and three other inmates forming a "gang" focused around playing the game.

Singer was told by prison officials that he could not keep the materials because Dungeons & Dragons "promotes fantasy role playing, competitive
hostility, violence, addictive escape behaviors, and possible gambling," according to the ruling. The prison later developed a more comprehensive policy against all types of fantasy games, the court said.
The appeals court said the prison's policy was reasonable and did not violate Singer's rights.

"After all, 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," the court said.

Singer was sentenced to life in prison in 2002 after being found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of his sister's boyfriend. The man was bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer.

Department of Corrections spokesman John Dipko said the department was pleased with the decision and will continue to enforce rules that are designed to maintain a safe environment.

Singer's court-appointed attorney, W.C. Turner Herbert of North Carolina, also did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Now all we need is for the ban to be extended to people outside jail and finally all the other game would stand a chance! :-)

Quote"After all, 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," the court said.

The judge was just envious because the convict had a stable group...

Erik Mona once wrote an editorial in Dungeon Magazine where he talked about the difficulty the magazine's subscribers behind bars had to endure just by way of getting their material delivered.

The real craziness is that there's no one legal policy on this in the States, and that the prisoner is at the complete mercy of however the admin feels like today. So one prison is fine with the mags, another deems them no-go.

The importance of the magazines to prisoners playing (or just wanting to keep up with) D&D is that most of them wouldn't be allowed hardcovers ("sharp" edges/corners) but would be fine to get magazines. So WotC material is not an option, but Paizo stuff (back then) was.

You could often read letters by imprisoned players in Dragon and Dungeon's letter section - it was even entitled "Prison Mail".

PS. I'm at work currently, but if I get home and can retrieve Mona's editorial I'm going to post it here.

Fuck it. He's in jail for murdering someone. He's lucky he even has some rights. Jail should be a miserable experience.

-=Grim=-

Quote from: GrimJesta;357559Jail should be a miserable experience.

So they should be forcing him to play Champions?

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;357569So they should be forcing him to play Champions?

RPGPundit

ZING!

Quote from: RPGPundit;357569So they should be forcing him to play Champions?

RPGPundit

No, Amber (NO DICE = NO GAMBLING). That might be conscrued as "cruel and unusual punishment" though.

Quote from: GrimJesta;357559Fuck it. He's in jail for murdering someone. He's lucky he even has some rights. Jail should be a miserable experience.

-=Grim=-

Ah.  So you have evidence that the worse the prison experience, the better the chance of rehabilitation?

Quote from: Bobloblah;357578Ah.  So you have evidence that the worse the prison experience, the better the chance of rehabilitation?

I'm not absolutely persuaded GrimJesta was focusing on efficacy of rehabilitation.

Nice to see the irrational and uninformed fear of D&D from the 1980s has found a home.

Really, they just don't want them summoning demons to help them escape.

If he's a real gamer, he'll homebrew.

Quote from: J Arcane;357585If he's a real gamer, he'll homebrew.

From the AP quote:

QuoteSinger was told by prison officials that he could not keep the materials because Dungeons & Dragons "promotes fantasy role playing, competitive
hostility, violence, addictive escape behaviors, and possible gambling," according to the ruling. The prison later developed a more comprehensive policy against all types of fantasy games, the court said.

He then has to homebrew in other directions ... like diceless storygames.

(Sometimes you can only marvel how far the arm of the Forge can reach...)

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;357590From the AP quote:



He then has to homebrew in other directions ... like diceless storygames.

(Sometimes you can only marvel how far the arm of the Forge can reach...)

Piff.  Fuck the Forge.  O'Sullivan was playing a game while hiking with a stopwatch and little pieces of paper when Ron Edwards was just some whiny cunt on a Usenet feed.

Quote from: Balbinus;357582I'm not absolutely persuaded GrimJesta was focusing on efficacy of rehabilitation.

GrimJesta may not have been specifically referring to rehabilitation, but stating that the prisoner in question should have no right to question the decision to ban D&D because, "...prison should be a miserable experience..." pretty much goes to the heart of the rehabilitation question.  I'm interested in the reasoning behind the original comment.  

Does D&D appear to forment gang activity amongst the population generally?  Do abitrary doses of misery provide better results from the prison system?