Pink For Clink Sex Acts Challenged

Criminal Justice

Posted Aug 23, 2007, 01:10 pm CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

An editorial in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal is applauding South Carolina’s unusual effort to discourage prisoners from performing sex acts in front of corrections officers.

The state requires such an inmate to wear a pink jumpsuit for three months, the Associated Press reports. An inmate has filed a lawsuit challenging the policy, claiming it endangers prisoners.

"The color pink in an all-male environment no doubt causes derision and verbal and physical attacks on a person's manhood,” says the suit filed by Sherone Nealous, who never had to wear the jumpsuit himself.

State prisons director John Ozmint says he hopes courts will dismiss the lawsuit. "We don't believe the United States Constitution protects an inmate's right to publicly gratify himself," he said.

The Herald-Journal says the federal judge overseeing the case should grant the state’s dismissal request. “Rather than being restricted by the courts, corrections officials should be congratulated for looking for innovative solutions,” the editorial says.

Florida has tried another tack, prosecuting inmates who masturbate in front of corrections officials. The state was ordered to pay nearly $1 million to 12 female nurses who were not protected from inmates who exposed themselves and made sexually suggestive comments.

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