Two inmates in an Indiana prison are suing the state’s Department of Correction in order to lift a ban on adult magazines for prisoners.
Ernest Tope, 53, and Wade Meisberger, 34, filed their suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, seeking class action status on behalf of the estimated 20,000 inmates in the state’s prisons, the Indianapolis Star reported. The suit seeks to overturn a policy that went into effect on July 1 which banned all adult magazines and similar printed adult material with sexual content.
The suit claims the new policy violates the prisoners’ civil rights because it would also outlaw newspapers, magazines like the National Geographic and letters that are sexually explicit.
Tope, who is serving a life sentence for murder, said he can’t subscribe to the Easyriders magazine because it contains some nudity. Meisberger, who is also held on murder and auto theft charges, had challenged the policy through the prison’s grievance system.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections said the agency had not seen the lawsuit and would not comment.
