The ACLU has filed suit challenging the constitutionality of Berkeley County, South Carolina's policy restricting jail inmates from any reading material apart from a Bible.
The jail confirmed Wednesday that it doesn't have a library and that the only reading materials inmates are allowed are paperback Bibles. A spokesman for Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
"Not only does it prevent communication and clearly violate free speech rights, it also violates the establishment clause because it discriminates on the basis of religion," said David Shapiro, an attorney for the ACLU's National Prison Project. "The information that's being blocked and censored is information about prisoners' basic legal rights."
