This should be alarming, right?

[kandrathe]

I am more concerned about this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/us/27dungeons.html

A prisoner was banned from playing D&D due to the same stupid hysteria that descended in the 80's.

Aside rights issue, it depends on if his conviction is at the federal level or not. If he's got a federal felony (I'm not sure on state level felonies, although most follow the federal lead on rights), he has no rights. The first thing that happens to anyone that commits a felony at the federal level is your rights are revoked. They are only returned to you if you petition the government after release to have them restored (I know of no one that has successfully petitioned and won) or 20 years have elapsed since you finished your term. So, without knowing for sure if he has a state felony or a federal felony (although most states also suspend rights upon a felony conviction, but petitioning a state to get your rights back happens fairly frequently), he has no rights thus the prison isn't infringing on his first and fourteenth rights (cause they're suspended while he's in prison).

It was not Federal it seems. It appears he beat two people to death. But, a felony conviction does not result in a sweeping loss of all rights. In many ways the prison acts as the prisoners guardian, but a person still retains a citizen's constitutional rights as well as natural common law rights (human rights). That is, where they don't conflict with the States correctional mandate.

In reading, Singer v. Wisconsin Prison People

"Singer collected fifteen affidavits—from other inmates, his brother, and three role-playing game experts. He contends that the affidavits demonstrate that there is no connection between D&D and gang activity. Several of Singer’s affiants indeed asserted the opposite: that D&D helps rehabilitate inmates and prevents them from joining gangs and engaging in other undesirable activities."

It seems more that Mr. Singer, or his lawyers did not prove the case. The appeal courts deferred to the expertise of the prison officials claim that this activity would be detrimental to rehabilitation. The prison went on to ban all FRPG's, and thereby also maybe imagination itself. We know it is crazy, but how does an inmate challenge the "expertise" of penal reform? Not with the witnesses (affidavits) they called. He would need his own experts in rehabilitation to convince the courts that playing D&D would be either beneficial or at least benign.

But, I did get a big laugh from... "Mr. Muraski stated that he has security related concerns with inmates participating in Dungeons Dragons and other role-playing activities because the rules of the game, including providing one person (the "Dungeon Master") with a leadership role to master game rules, mimic the organization of a gang. In addition, he testified that one aspect of Dungeons Dragons is to evade and escape from made-up situations which can lead to an inmate's interest in escaping from the correctional environment. He also has found that this type of game promotes competitive hostility, violence and addictive escape behavior which interferes with the inmate's rehabilitation and the effects of positive programming."

The gang initiation is brutal, if you fail your saving throw.

/sarcasm

Of course, by prohibiting Mr Singer's diversions in prison they've certainly curbed his escape fantasies entirely.

OMG. They must really hate him.