Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight

[jimmy olsen]

In my opinion prisons can ban stuff like this if they want to, but the reasoning given is just retarded.

http://www.wkowtv.com/global/story.asp?s=11876814

Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight

Associated Press - January 25, 2010 2:45 PM ET

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A man serving life in prison for first-degree intentional homicide has lost his legal battle to play Dungeons and Dragons behind bars.

Kevin T. Singer filed a lawsuit against officials at Wisconsin's Waupun prison after a policy was initiated in 2004 to eradicate all Dungeons and Dragons game materials among concerns that playing it promotes gang-related activity.

The 33-year-old Singer is a devoted player of the fantasy role-playing game that involves recruiting others to play as a group. He argued that his First Amendment rights were being violated and demanded that Dungeons and Dragons material confiscated from his cell be returned.

But the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the prison's policy was reasonable.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

[Caliga]

Is he allowed to play GURPS? 

[Neil]

Christians are silly.

[Razgovory]

Woah, cool.  I never knew I was engaging in gang activity in high school.

[Jaron]

Are they afraid the D&D gaming gang are going to take over the prison?

[Martinus]

Did he fail his: persuasion check?

Yeah, I know. There are hundreds of jokes one can make about it. 

[HisMajestyBOB]

Are they afraid the D&D gaming gang are going to take over the prison?

It's a legitimate concern. If all the prisoners became D&D nerds with no life, the recidivism rate would drop sharply and the prisons and lawyers would lose a lot of work.

[Eddie Teach]

Are they afraid the D&D gaming gang are going to take over the prison?

It's a legitimate concern. If all the prisoners became D&D nerds with no life, the recidivism rate would drop sharply and the prisons and lawyers would lose a lot of work.

What if they're hackers and embezzlers?

[Jaron]

Are they afraid the D&D gaming gang are going to take over the prison?

It's a legitimate concern. If all the prisoners became D&D nerds with no life, the recidivism rate would drop sharply and the prisons and lawyers would lose a lot of work.

What if they're hackers and embezzlers?

They'll need to stack int and charisma

[Viking]

This is like banning basketball on the grounds that it promotes gang-related activity...

[chipwich]

Couldn't they just decide that DND is fun, therefore prisoners shouldn't have it?

[DisturbedPervert]

If they don't know who the D&D nerds are, how will the other inmates know who to rape? 

[Josquius]

Something tells me that big Jemal from the street isn't going to be the kind of guy to sit down and pretend to be a halfling....
I suppose having D&D nerds in clear sight encourages other prisoners to get togeter and lynch them though.

[Brazen]

The story made its way here:

No Dungeons & Dragons in jail, court tells killer

A killer serving a life sentence in America has lost a lengthy legal battle to be allowed to play Dungeons & Dragons in prison - on the grounds that it promotes 'gang activity'.

Inmate Kevin T. Singer had 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 ban on the fantasy role-laying game after 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.

33-year-old Singer, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2002 after being found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide after his sister's boyfriend was bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer, 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 from 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 behaviours, 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.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/810410-no-dungeons-dragons-in-jail-court-tells-killer

Must be a cleric then

[HisMajestyBOB]

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 behaviours, and possible gambling,' according to the ruling.

Not Satanism? Or witchcraft?