BERKELEY COUNTY (WACH, AP) -- A South Carolina jail has settled federal accusations it violated inmates' rights by depriving them of certain reading materials.
Court documents obtained by The Associated Press show the American Civil Liberties Union, federal prosecutors and Berkeley County jail officials signed a settlement agreement Tuesday.
The ACLU sued the jail, saying officials were violating inmates' civil rights by refusing to deliver the Prison Legal News magazine, a monthly publication that reports on criminal justice-related issues and a project of the non-profit Human Rights Defense Center, to inmates.
Under the agreement, inmates will be able to receive the Prison Legal News magazine and other publications including religious texts.
Jail officials said the magazine's staples posed a security risk and told publishers the only book inmates were allowed to have was a soft-back Bible. Other religious texts have subsequently been allowed, and a library has also been made available.
In addition to agreeing to pay damages and attorney fees, the county agreed to extensive policy changes at the jail.
Those changes include implementing policies related to incoming publications and religious materials; providing training to jail staff related to such policies; and instituting an appeal and oversight process for when publications or religious materials are rejected or censored. Publications may not be rejected solely because they contain staples, and jail staff may remove staples prior to delivering publications to prisoners. The jail may reject publications deemed a “genuine threat” to safety and security at the facility.
Jury selection had been set for June.
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(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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