For the fifth time in just over a decade the 9th Circuit on Monday questioned the constitutionality of policies that restrict access to publications in prisons and jails, renewing a publisher's hopes of distributing a free magazine to inmates at two county jails in California.
The San Francisco-based federal appeals panel reversed a District Court's granting of summary judgment to the sheriffs of Sacramento County and Butte County in two separate lawsuits where the officials had barred publisher Ray Hrdlicka from distributing unsolicited copies of his publication, Crime, Justice & America (CJA), in their jails.
Hrdlicka has published the weekly magazine since 2002, reaching jails in 60 counties (32 of which are in California) and 13 states. The magazine's advertising and editorial content is aimed at inmates, especially those seeking bail bonds and legal assistance, according to the ruling. Depending on the policies at each corrections facility, the magazine is distributed free to a jail's general population or mailed to specific inmates.
The sheriffs had argued that valid "penological interests" - including security - were served in banning the magazine's distribution, and the two federal judges from California's Eastern District agreed with them. The three-judge appeals panel, however, was unconvinced.
CourthouseNews, 1/31/11; Herdlicka v Reniff, 09-15768, 1/31/11