WILKES-BARRE, Penn. - A state appellate court has ruled that a Luzerne County inmate can proceed with a lawsuit challenging the Department of Correction’s pornography policy.
According to a recent report, Shannon Brittain filed a complaint with the state’s Commonwealth Court in February that sought to ban the Department of Correction (DOC) from enforcing its policy which allows officers to confiscate materials from inmates that contain any form of nudity.
Brittain, who was sentenced in 1994 for rape, has argued that the DOC’s porn policy does not serve the purpose for which it’s intended; “to assist with rehabilitation and treatment objectives, reduce sexual harassment and prevent a hostile working environment.”
Acting as his own attorney, Brittain argued that seeing nude images does not cause inmates to sexually harass others or prohibit an inmate’s rehabilitation process.
According to the Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, prior courts have held that a prison policy is permissible, even if it violates an inmate’s constitutional rights, if the state can show it has a legitimate governmental interest in enforcing the policy.
