Justice Dept. opposes Bible-only rule

MONCKS CORNER, S.C., April 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department says it wants a federal judge to allow it to participate in a lawsuit against a sheriff who bans all books except the Bible.

Berkeley County Sheriff H. Wayne DeWitt said in a Christian Science Monitor report Wednesday restrictions he imposed at the county jail in Moncks Corner, S.C., don't violate any law or the U.S. Constitution.

DeWitt said the prohibition of published material meets "legitimate penological objectives."

But Justice Department lawyers disagree.

"The only book, magazine, newspaper, or religious publication that [jail officials] consistently permit prisoners to possess is the Bible," the Justice Department says in its complaint. "These practices discriminate against non-Christian prisoners in violation of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause."

The request by the Justice Department was applauded by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"The fact that the Justice Department has chosen to intervene in this case should send a clear signal to jail officials that systematically denying detainees access to books, magazines, and newspapers is unconstitutional," said David Fathi, director of the ACLU National Prison Project. "The policy in place at the Berkeley County Detention Center is nothing short of censorship, and there is no justification for shutting detainees off from the outside world in such a draconian way."