Academic censorship in prison

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit reversed a Washington federal court’s summary judgment in favor of prison officials on an inmate’s First Amendment lawsuit, according to which his rights were violated when prison officials refused to submit a story he wrote to a university literary journal. He was participating in a prison writing program and his story referred to sexual intimacy, which the prison flagged as inappropriate sexual content. The record showed that, if proven at trial, the refusal to transmit the story to the journal constituted censorship prohibited by the First Amendment.Read the ruling here.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads