10-3339 Woods v. IDOC

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//July 19, 2011//

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Constitutional Law
Freedom of speech

A prison’s ban on pen pals is not unconstitutional.

“[C]onstitutional rights are not eradicated by one’s incarceration; the liberties enjoyed by the citizenry at large remain available to incarcerated individuals except to the extent that the exercise of such liberties is at odds with the objectives and administration of an effective prison system. Using pen-pal websites to engage in fraud is antithetical to the rehabilitative goals of confinement. Here, the IDOC reasonably perceived that continuing to allow inmates to use the sites would passively enable fraud. The regulation enacted to prevent it squarely addressed the threat and is therefore
constitutional.

Affirmed.

10-3339 Woods v. IDOC

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Magnus-Stinson, J., Bauer, J.

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