Inmates at the Berkeley County Detention Center in South Carolina have one and only one reading option during their stay behind bars: The Bible. The jail’s policy bans all other literature, including magazines and newspapers. There is no library in the jail and no reading material is allowed to be sent to the inmates.

 

Unhappy that it has been unable to get its publication into the jail, the Prison Legal News has filed a lawsuit against the local sheriff, claiming the Bible-only policy is violating its constitutional right to free speech.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

S.C. Jail Sued Over Its Bible-Only Policy (by Nick Divito, Courthouse News Service)

Prison Legal News et al. v. Berkeley County Sheriff (U.S. District Court, Charleston, South Carolina) (pdf)