Imprisoned killer sues for right to read book with nude pictures

A Connecticut man serving a 56-year sentence for murder, conspiracy and witness tampering is suing the state over its ban on pornography in prison.

Dwight Pink Jr., who was sentenced to prison in 2003 for the murder of Scott Rufin, says his civil rights are being violated because prison guards won’t let him have an art book that features nude male and female models.

The book, “Atlas of Foreshortening: The Human Figure in Deep Perspective,” is a reference volume used to teach the art of drawing the human form. The book contains more than 500 photographs.

The Associated Press notes that the Connecticut Department of Correction bans books containing “pictorial depictions of sexual activity or nudity” but has an exception for “materials which, taken as a whole, are literary, artistic, educational or scientific in nature.” That policy is similar to the language used in the U.S. Supreme Court case Miller v. California, which held that a work could not be ruled obscene if it has “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”

The state of Connecticut isn’t backing down from the policy. The AP quotes Assistant Atty. Gen. Steven Strom, who wrote, “Any injury or harm, if any, was caused solely by plaintiff’s own acts, omissions, or conduct and was not due to any wrongful conduct by the defendants.”