, published on January 1, 2009 last updated on February 6, 2025
In this decision, the Supreme Court upheld, against a First Amendment challenge, restrictions imposed by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (whose secretary was Jeffrey A. Beard) on inmates’ reading materials. The Court’s 6-2 ruling in Beard v. Banks, 548 U.S. 521 (2006), continued its trend of extending broad deference to prison officials in the face of constitutional challenges. In this photo, an inmate reads in his maximum security cell in A Block at Pike County Correctional Facility in Lords Valley, Pa., Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005. The 277-bed jail, widely considered one of the best-run county lockups in Pennsylvania, is a model of discipline, cleanliness and efficiency. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, used with permission from the Associated Press)
In this decision, the Supreme Court upheld, against a First Amendment challenge, restrictions imposed by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (whose secretary was Jeffrey A. Beard) on inmates’ reading materials. The Court’s 6-2 ruling in Beard v. Banks, 548 U.S. 521 (2006), continued its trend of extending broad deference to prison officials in the face of constitutional challenges.
Prisoners said First Amendment rights were violated
Inmate Ronald Banks filed a federal lawsuit in 2001, contending that the department’s policy of restricting prisoners in its long-term segregation unit from reading newspapers and magazines and viewing photographs violated their free expression rights.
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