Prisoners demand nudie mags

Indiana prison officials are being sued by inmates who want their Playboys. The suit seeks to overturn a Department of Correction policy that bars girlie magazines. The policy went into effect July 1 and bars printed material that contains nudity or other sexual content. Two inmates said the ban is a violation of their civil rights. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis seeks class-action status on behalf of more than 20,000 state prisoners. The complaint argues the ban on sexual content won't just apply to magazines like Playboy, Hustler and Easy Rider. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana said National Geographic, daily newspapers and private sexually-explicit letters could also be restricted under the policy. Lawyers said said the policy is so broad that it could keep inmates from receiving intimate letters from loved ones or even some great works of art and literature. The two plaintiffs named in the complaint are Ernest Tope, 53, an inmate at the Pendleton Correctional Facility who is serving a life sentence for murder, and murder and auto theft convict Wade Meisberger, 34, who is held at the Miami Correctional Facility near Peru.

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