(Image source: The Detroit News)


BY DANNY MATTESON

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY
 

You're watching multisource US video news analysis from Newsy.

The right to keep and bear - porn? That’s what Michigan inmate Kyle Richards is suing for.

CNN has the story.

“Richards, an accused bank robber, filed his handwritten lawsuit, he claims, because he’s been deprived of these materials in jail and therefore, he says, deprived of gratification, he has both immediate and ongoing physical injury caused by the jail failing to provide pornography or erotic material.”    

Originally arrested on bank robbery charges in January, Richards claims to suffer from such ailments as “chronic masturbation syndrome” and “severe sexual discomfort”. He argues being denied pornography to treat his condition constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. But according to the Daily Mail, many observers don’t see his case getting off the ground...

“Judges have already thrown out three of a series of 'frivolous' complaints he has posted in the last year, and because of that the lawsuit may simply be discarded.”

The paper also adds...

“Federal judges have the power to dismiss a case if a claimant's previous lawsuits were deemed frivolous or malicious.”

According to the NY Daily News, Richards’ case has bigger issues than a history of frivolous lawsuits. The biggest problem? He’s suing the wrong people.

“Although Richards named the state as the defendant, the Michigan state prisons allow inmates to keep Penthouse, Playboy and certain other pornographic materials... The Macomb lockup, where Richards is jailed on $500,000 bail, is under county rules barring porn from their facility. So he's targeting the wrong folks with his suit.”

Finally, the Detroit News reports even the American Civil Liberties Union, which has a history of defending prisoners rights, is less than optimistic on this particular case.

"’Prisons have a lot of leeway to regulate the material that comes in and out,’ said Kary Moss, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Michigan.”
 

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Transcript by Newsy.