No Nudes? Get a Dollar a Day

A settled lawsuit in Utah has put a value on the right to read nude magazines and see other material with nude pictures. According to the settlement, it's worth a dollar a day. \n That's how much each and every one of the 102 former inmates of Davis County Jail will get as part of a settlement in a class action suit that challenged a jail policy forbidding prisoners from receiving material with "any kind of nudity." \n The settlement, revealed in Farmington, Utah, will pay one dollar for each day an inmate was in jail from Jan. 1, 1995, when the policy went into effect, until May 31, 1997, when the county stopped banning all nudity and just forbid sexually explicit material. \n All together, the former inmates, none of whom are still in jail, will divide $11,682. Meanwhile, their lawyer, Brian Barnard, will receive $57,000. \n Initially, Barnard filed lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City on behalf of two inmates, Jose Antonio Ayala and Jamie Alvarez. Ayala, detained as an illegal alien, was not allowed a Spanish-language magazine because it had pictures of topless women. \n The lawyer said that banning "any kind of nudity" was simply too arbitrary and violated the First Amendment. Last year, a judge certified the suit as a class action. \n Gary McKean, deputy attorney of Davis County, said the county agreed to the settlement to keep legal costs from mounting. Once the suit became a class action case, McKean said it was clear the county would end up paying all legal costs. \n According to the settlement, no other lawsuits will be filed in connection with the former jail policy, McKean said. Also, inmates will be able to have some nude art. Each item is to be considered individually and there will be a way to appeal, he said. \n Money for the settlement will come from an insurance policy. If any money is not claimed after a year, it will be returned to the insurance company.