Corrections1 Staff
Wisconsin inmate Kevin Singer, serving a life sentence for homicide, has lost his bid to play the fantasy roll playing game Dungeons & Dragons behind bars, USA Today is reporting.
The U.S. 7th Circuit court of appeals rejected Singer’s argument that the Waupon Correctional Institution in Wisconsin’s ban on him playing the fantasy game violated his right to free speech and due process.
Singer is a “devoted player” of the role-playing game, according to court documents. He also, however, was convicted of killing his sister’s boyfriend with a sledgehammer in 2002.
Prison officials say that playing Dungeons & Dragons “represented a threat to prison security.” They claim the ban was instated after they received an anonymous letter from an inmate worried that Singer and three other inmates were forming a D&D gang and trying to recruit others.
In court, a gang expert testified that fantasy role-playing games like D&D have “been found to promote competitive hostility, violence and addictive escape behavior” that can threaten the security of a prison.
The court, in upholding the ban, pointed out that “punishment is a fundamental aspect of imprisonment” and can include taking away a prisoner’s favorite recreation.
The court also, however, noted that Singer and other inmates still have access to chess and checkers.