Should prisoners get to have porn?
The American Civil Liberties Union has recently spearheaded a campaign to allow prisoners in the detention center of Moncks Corner, South Carolina to have pornography. The ACLU requested reading and viewing materials for inmates, and after being rebuffed, are taking the case to court. The issue broke when it was reported (apparently falsely) that previously, the only reading material provided for the inmates was the Bible. It’s not totally clear how or why the ACLU jumped from “books other than the Bible” to “porn,” but it’s interesting either way. Are they just trying to make a point with the most envelope-pushing subject matter available? Or do they really think porn is a right?
So you're in jail. You've committed some sort of crime, you're not fit for society, and you've got to do the time. Some would argue that you’ve broken your contract with society, and that your rights are now limited. Others — people who take a more prison-as-rehabilitation view — are probably inclined to think your rights as a citizen remain.
In either case, I think we can all agree that they’d do better to invest in some steamy novels — which have the upshot of increasing literacy — and call it a compromise.
Comments ( 7 )
coverage for sexual reassignment is complicated for me not on moral grounds, but in terms of precedent and scope. that is, when does it stop? if a small-busted woman feels that, deep down, she is a large-busted woman and must have surgery to achieve the appearance that she feels most truly conveys her identity, then why shouldn't she be covered as well? what about penis enlargement? what about permanent cosmetics? it's an interesting proposition, but they "why" of it (beyond improving morale) needs to be more clearly defined.
I agree that reclaiming the n-word is dubious. It's co-option attempts to take away it's power to hurt from the outsiders who use it, but it's just such a powerful, nasty word that is too connected to slavery and cultural genocide. I would say that the biggest success story in these realms has to be embracing the word queer.
I think that Lady Chatterly's Lover or some of Henry Miller's works probably "angry up the blood" just as much, if not more, than garden-variety porno.
Me you sex
oddly enough the Chicago Tribune reported that the proper verb for Civil Unions is to certify. So people have been "certified"....which just sounds so technical and unfeeling.
Hmmm... shortage of men in Russia, (scarier) shortage of women in India and China... I think we need to hook that up.
I don't want to sound judgemental, but how do you not know that your wife was a man?
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