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General Category => Off the Record => Topic started by: jimmy olsen on January 26, 2010, 10:43:59 PM

Title: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: jimmy olsen on January 26, 2010, 10:43:59 PM
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

Quote

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.
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Caliga on January 26, 2010, 11:11:58 PM
Is he allowed to play GURPS?  :)
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Neil on January 26, 2010, 11:13:49 PM
Christians are silly.
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Razgovory on January 26, 2010, 11:32:55 PM
Woah, cool.  I never knew I was engaging in gang activity in high school.
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Jaron on January 27, 2010, 01:35:43 AM
Are they afraid the D&D gaming gang are going to take over the prison? :P
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Martinus on January 27, 2010, 02:37:40 AM
Did he fail his: persuasion check?

Yeah, I know. There are hundreds of jokes one can make about it.  :rolleyes:
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: HisMajestyBOB on January 27, 2010, 03:08:10 AM
Quote from: Jaron on January 27, 2010, 01:35:43 AM
Are they afraid the D&D gaming gang are going to take over the prison? :P

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.
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Eddie Teach on January 27, 2010, 03:15:03 AM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on January 27, 2010, 03:08:10 AM
Quote from: Jaron on January 27, 2010, 01:35:43 AM
Are they afraid the D&D gaming gang are going to take over the prison? :P

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?
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Jaron on January 27, 2010, 03:40:20 AM
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on January 27, 2010, 03:15:03 AM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on January 27, 2010, 03:08:10 AM
Quote from: Jaron on January 27, 2010, 01:35:43 AM
Are they afraid the D&D gaming gang are going to take over the prison? :P

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
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Viking on January 27, 2010, 05:20:44 AM
This is like banning basketball on the grounds that it promotes gang-related activity...
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: chipwich on January 27, 2010, 05:24:57 AM
Couldn't they just decide that DND is fun, therefore prisoners shouldn't have it?
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: DisturbedPervert on January 27, 2010, 05:31:36 AM
If they don't know who the D&D nerds are, how will the other inmates know who to rape? 
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Josquius on January 27, 2010, 06:03:34 AM
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.
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Brazen on January 27, 2010, 07:50:32 AM
The story made its way here:
QuoteNo 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 (http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/810410-no-dungeons-dragons-in-jail-court-tells-killer)

Must be a cleric then :P
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: HisMajestyBOB on January 27, 2010, 09:46:59 AM
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 behaviours, and possible gambling,' according to the ruling.

Not Satanism? Or witchcraft?  :pope:
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Razgovory on January 27, 2010, 09:49:25 AM
Quote from: Tyr on January 27, 2010, 06:03:34 AM
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.

That something is called "racism".
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Malthus on January 27, 2010, 09:54:59 AM
I suspect the real problem is that for some D&D types, being imprisioned and allowed to play as much AD&D as they want all day every day just isn't that bad.  ;)
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: KRonn on January 27, 2010, 10:16:39 AM
Lol.. they can't play fantasy games because of the possible behavior that may come out of such games (nerdiness, dorkiness). Yeah, real nasty, dangerous, anti-social behavior there. Worried about fantasy gangs in prison?? I thought gangs were the usual thing in prison!! So break up some of the other violent gangs instead!! Fantasy stuff seems to be just another hobby or activity.
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: Razgovory on January 27, 2010, 10:26:05 AM
Generally you want inmates focuses on something in prison.  When they are sitting there doing nothing they will occupy their time finding something that makes the lives of the guards difficult.  That's why they let TVs in prisons.  If they are watching the boob tube they aren't making knives or flinging shit at guards.
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: The Brain on January 27, 2010, 02:08:42 PM
D&D does suck ass so banning it seems fine. Give them real RPGs (and no GURPS isn't it).

Or maybe this is a 3.5 vs 4 fight? I wonder which side is backing 4. :bleeding:
Title: Re: Wisconsin inmate loses Dungeons and Dragons fight
Post by: DontSayBanana on January 27, 2010, 02:15:07 PM
Quote from: The Brain on January 27, 2010, 02:08:42 PM
D&D does suck ass so banning it seems fine. Give them real RPGs (and no GURPS isn't it).

Or maybe this is a 3.5 vs 4 fight? I wonder which side is backing 4. :bleeding:

4 is suck.  So is GURPS, but at least it's the only system where I can get Discworld RPG rulebooks. :contract: