The Curious Lawyer: Say What?! Prisoner Speech and the First Amendment

Is the fantasy board game Dungeons & Dragons dangerous for prisoners because it encourages fealty to the game’s leader and so mimics gang hierarchies? Can a prison ban John Updike’s works? Atomic bomb books because prisoners need to be curtailed from building hydrogen bombs? These are some of the fascinating, often bizarre, questions we look at as we explore the First Amendment in prison. Learn the Supreme Court’s governing First Amendment framework and see how in practice prisons restrict prisoner speech rights to satisfy penological interests of security and safety. With some audio from oral arguments in the Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit prison speech cases, see how the cases play out in this fun, educational walk down a unique corner of the First Amendment world.