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Should prisoners have a "right" to porn?

Segnosaur said:
I think the assumption you're making is that the "prison sex" that you see is motivated by sexual interest. However, I rather suspect that much of that activity is more akin to "asserting dominance/control". As such, access to pr0n might not make much of an effect either way, neither increasing nor decreasing sexual activity. (However, if anyone has more concrete information on this, I'm willing to listen.)
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Sounds a lot like the 'rape isn't about sex' meme, which I disagree with. I don't think otherwise straight men would choose sodomy as a tool to assert control unless they were starved for sex.
 
Mason said:
Convicts are imprisoned as part of their sentence. That's the sentence... Removal from society and confinement. Dehumanizing them during incarceration is not the goal of the confinement, quite the opposite in fact. It is expected that one day the prisoner will re-enter society and the intent is that he will assimilate properly and conduct himself appropriately. While their stay in prison is not supposed to be preferable to freedom, there are certain luxuries that can help maintain their humanity while incarcerated.
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You know how I know you have never been locked up?

While I totally respect your service in Afghanistan, if that is why you are there, I must chime in here. The only "right" I can recall having when I was in prison was food, and that doesn't mean good food, just a couple thousand calories of meh. Sure, "they say" you have a right to the law library, and some yard time, but it's not a "right" if they can take it away. Pretty much everything in prison is a privilege, not a right.

As far as porn goes, I can remember seeing some porn mags back in the 80's in Chino, but it wasn't widespread, and it sure wasn't something I was interested in at the time. It would be like looking at pictures of happy families, or anything that you might desire, I found it easier to cope by just being "here now". I actually saw a lot more "live porn" (men having sex) than I really wanted too, but even that was better than the "live rape porn".

It's not just a way to dominate another man, it's the ultimate humiliation in prison. Getting your ass kicked can earn you some respect, if you fight back, but getting punked can be the end of the road for a man. A lot of prison suicides are probably due to this, but they never get reported as what they are...always just another man that couldn't do his time.

I can't see why porn would be a bad thing if we're talking about some Playboy or Hustler mags for prisoners that have earned the privilege, but then where do you draw the line? Sure enough, some men will want gay porn, and that would be a tricky area, as gay sex is against all the rules.

Which brings up an interesting question; In the future, when the gays are no longer treated as second class citizens, will prisons be forced to allow gay sex?
 
TheNooch said:
Which brings up an interesting question; In the future, when the gays are no longer treated as second class citizens, will prisons be forced to allow gay sex?
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Now that is one thorny question.

At that point surely there could be a call for co-ed prisons.
 
Jekyll's Guest said:
Now that is one thorny question.

At that point surely there could be a call for co-ed prisons.
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They have come and gone in the States, but never really, really co-ed like sexy time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Rehabilitation_Center

I guess my point is, gay sex is against the rules in prison, and rape is against the law, inside, or out. Yet it happens daily, and for the most part, no one catches a new case for it. Just like there is porn in prison now, and no one gets in trouble for it.

After reading the OP link, my thoughts on this topic have changed for this thread. I read the title and assumed the topic was about "prisoners"...ie Prison. This punk is in a county jail, he's 21, and he's probably on his way to a nice bunk in a federal pen. (it doesn't say, but bank robbers usually get 1st class treatment)

The county jail can make their own god damn rules, and banning porn is one of them. But here is the catch, county jails that house federal inmates have to comply with federal regulations, at least they are supposed to. There isn't enough information in the article to know what the whole story is. (way to go fox news).

http://detnews.com/article/20110704/METRO03/107040358/Inmate-sues-state-over-lack-of-porn-in-jail

This is the best "story" about this case I could find, and even it sucks. In any case, this kid isn't going to change any rules with his frivolous lawsuits.
 
I think prisoners should be forced to watch porn!

Octogenarian scat porn. Nothing else. 2 hours a day, every day.
 
caniswalensis said:
I think prisoners should be forced to watch porn!

Octogenarian scat porn. Nothing else. 2 hours a day, every day.
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Only 2 hours?

I'd just be getting warmed up by then. I guess it would be a public viewing though, that might help heat the motor faster.
 
bozman said:
What kind of porn are we talking about here?
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Porn Porn.

picture.php


Here is the kid filing all these lawsuits. He looks to me like a kid that is probably a bit scared about spending the next 10-20 years in federal prison and is trying to prove his heterosexuality to himself, and some other young kids in that county jail, by asking for porn. He's even letting his lip fuzz grow out, in a cute boyish way.

If I were a deputy at that county jail I would "find" some gay porn under his bunk on the next shakedown, just for the lulz.

Kyle Richards, 21, of Fraser filed the five-page handwritten lawsuit June 10 in U.S. District Court in Detroit. He wants a judge to let inmates possess erotic/pornographic materials along with personal televisions, video game consoles and radios.
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This is the part of the article that makes me believe he wants federal prisoner rules applied to this particular county jail, and he ain't gonna win. He should have just asked to be sentenced when he entered his guilty plea, and he would be on his way to a place where he can earn a color TV for performing a few favors. ;)

the quote link is in mah last post
 
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For what it's worth, over in Afghanistan and here in Iraq soldiers are not allowed to have porn. We do anyways of course, but if you are caught with it there is punishment for it, depending upon what kind of chain of command you have.
 
Checkmite said:
Except there's no evidence porn has this effect.
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I seem to remember evidence being brought up before that sexual assaults have gone down since porn has become widely available, but I'm just going from memory, so...

I know it seems to help sexually frustrated teens. I guess my stance is it's worth trying, most prisoners weren't rapists on the outside, even the ones that had no girlfriend. I'd be willing to bet being treated like a human being would do wonders for the behavior of the majority of prisoners.
 
Evidence? I don't think there is any either way. John Ensign, before he was caught shagging his staffer's wife and bribing the family to keep it on the down low, introduced the "Ensign Amendment" in '96. It basically was an amendment to the huge budget bill that slide on through with no objections, and after all what congressman would want the federal government paying for employees to deliver the mail, they have always been delivering to inmates, that might have some nudy pics.

There are a couple links to this story, the first will be a cliff notes version, the second the actual Opinion of the Amatel vs. Reno case. From what I can gather, there is no evidence either way on what impact porn has in prison, but there was this gem...it's all the way at the bottom of the opinion link.

13.  In some prisons, material featuring adult nudity is an effective part of a rehabilitative program.   See, e.g, Waterman, 12 F.Supp.2d at 370-71 (citing evidence that adult pornography may be helpful in turning pedophiles away from child pornography).
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I wouldn't have imagined this to be the case, and perhaps there are new studies that counter this one.

11.  For example, the government has provided no evidence on why a ban on nudity is necessary to rehabilitate those convicted of nonsexual and/or nonviolent crimes.   I can think of no reason why an embezzler, a tax evader, or a person held in contempt for refusing to testify will be rehabilitated if prevented from looking at publications that “feature” nudity.  (The statements of the only two Mmembers of Congress who offered floor comments on the Amendment suggest that their concern was with sex offenders.   See 142 Cong. Rec. H8262 (daily ed.   July 24, 1996) (“f we do not adopt my amendment, we are sending the message that it is OK to provide sexually explicit magazines and books to the very prisoners who have committed violent acts against women.”)
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Again from the Amatel decision. The government had no evidence that porn was bad, only that John Enign, with all his moral values, didn't want them to have it. Wont someone think of the children?

3.  Of course, because the majority concludes that the BOP's regulations, and not the Ensign Amendment, are controlling in this case, the majority's focus on Congress's conclusions may be misguided.
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IANAL but from what i can gather, the appeals court basically left it up to the wardens to make the best decisions for their institutions. I'm pretty sure that porn is still allowed in federal prisons, although I can't find any evidence of that either way.

Cliff notes summary, http://www.firstamendmentcenter.com/news.aspx?id=8602

Amatel vs. Reno, http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-dc-circuit/1029939.html
 
JFrankA said:
Interesting because I've seen no research that proves what you are saying. Further, if what you say is true, the what does porn do for us "normal" folk?
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I'd suggest two minutes of searching on PubMed to find the studies. It's not exactly a new field of research.
 
Craig4 said:
I'd suggest two minutes of searching on PubMed to find the studies. It's not exactly a new field of research.
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If you aren't willing to spend two minutes to include support for an assertion, you shouldn't make it.
 
Umm... I'm not sure why porn is a requirement for sexual er... release.

If someone is going to have one off the wrist, are visual aids really required?

If they are 'required' (as in, cannot get aroused except by looking at pornography) then that person should probably get some help.

So, no - I don't think prisoners should have a 'right' to pornography. I don't see what part of the punitive aspect or the rehabilitation aspect of why we have jails should suggest that porn plays an important role.
 
Antiquehunter said:
Umm... I'm not sure why porn is a requirement for sexual er... release.

If someone is going to have one off the wrist, are visual aids really required?

If they are 'required' (as in, cannot get aroused except by looking at pornography) then that person should probably get some help.

So, no - I don't think prisoners should have a 'right' to pornography. I don't see what part of the punitive aspect or the rehabilitation aspect of why we have jails should suggest that porn plays an important role.
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You only say that because you see women most every day.

Try not seeing a naked woman for a decade, see how much well your memory works.

Besides, men respond strongly to sexual imagery.
 
I have a functioning brain, and I find fantasy as equally as compelling as images. I hardly think someone NEEDS porn to pleasure oneself. That many men respond strongly to sexual imagery is neither here nor there.
 
Jekyll's Guest said:
You only say that because you see women most every day.

Try not seeing a naked woman for a decade, see how much well your memory works.
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Yes, I'm sure they actually forget what a naked woman looks like and have trouble masturbating with no porn to remind them.
 
Antiquehunter said:
I have a functioning brain, and I find fantasy as equally as compelling as images. I hardly think someone NEEDS porn to pleasure oneself. That many men respond strongly to sexual imagery is neither here nor there.
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What's the longest you've ever went without seeing a nude or semi-nude woman? In the flesh or an image.
 
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