First Amendment
Trial Allowed in Prisoner Challenge to Media Policy
Posted Jan 17, 2008, 10:39 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A federal appeals court is allowing a challenge to a federal policy that bans death row inmates from holding face-to-face interviews with journalists.
Death-row inmate David Paul Hammer claims the ban violates his First Amendment rights. The Bureau of Prisons said security concerns justified the ban, but Hammer argued the policy was actually spurred by criticism after a 60 Minutes interview with Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Chicago said in a Tuesday opinion (PDF) that Hammer should be allowed to try to prove his claim that the cited justification was pretextual.
The Society for Professional Journalists, which filed an amicus brief in the case, praised the ruling in a press release.
Updated at 1:29 p.m. CT to clarify that the policy applies only to federal inmates on death row.
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