ST. LOUIS (CN) — A lawyer for a prisoner rights advocacy group met with a skeptical Eighth Circuit on Tuesday in an attempt to revive the group’s civil rights lawsuit against an Arkansas county jail.
The Human Rights Defense Center filed a lawsuit in October 2017 challenging the “postcard-only” policy, which prohibits the center and other publishers from sending books, magazines and correspondence to prisoners in the Union County Detention Center. The group claims the ban violates the center's First and Fourteenth amendment rights.
In 2023, a federal jury found in favor of Union County, prompting the appeal.
The group's attorney, Charles Pults, of Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Minneapolis, Minnesota, began his argument by summarizing the testimony of Union County Sheriff Ricky Roberts, who was asked whether — before the jail instituted policy — incoming mail from publishers escaped scrutiny because there was no concern of contraband.
“Sheriff Roberts responded unequivocally, 'right,'” Pults said.
Union County attorney C. Burt Newell began his argument by comparing the unique nature of this case compared to similar suits in other jurisdictions.
“All of the cases looking at this over the past five years have been bench trials,” Newell said. “This case is the only one that was a jury trial. I think that's a huge difference.”
The three-judge panel seemed to agree, focusing on that fact for the majority of Pults’ time. He argued that precedent allowed for a de novo review by the appeals court.
Judge Jane L. Kelly, a Barack Obama appointee, asked whether there was something in the record where the jury could have concluded there was an alternative avenue on which to base its decision.
“If you look at the jury instructions, it is four factors and it’s unclear which one the jury ruled on,” Pults said.
The response prompted Judge James B. Loken, a George H.W. Bush appointee, to say the court would then have to infer that the jury found against the group on all four factors.
“I understand why your client doesn't like jury trials, but that doesn't mean they aren't legitimate and worthwhile,” Loken said.
Newell argued that the case stems from unsolicited bulk mailings the group made to 15 detainees in Union County. He said the group did the same thing at other jails at the same time.
Newell said six months after the rights group filed its lawsuit, the jail converted to a digital system where people held there can access their mail and 60,000 book titles electronically. He told the court that detainees have daily iPad access, but he said the rights group never tried to put its material on the digital system.
“The precedent from this circuit is that you can't have a complete ban on communication with the outside world,” Newell said. “There is not a holding that says you have to let a publisher put in whatever that company wants to put in.”
The argument seemed to land with Judge Steven Colloton, a George W. Bush appointee. Colloton asked Newell why a publisher has the right to send unsolicited publications to detainees.
“That’s a great question and I can’t answer it,” Newell replied.
The prisoner rights group recently won a similar lawsuit against Baxter County, Arkansas. But Newell said there was a big difference — mainly the digital access Union County prisoners have.
“In the record, you'll find that Union County is one of the top five jails in the state of Arkansas, and always has been, as far as jail standards,” Newell said. “Baxter County is a much smaller venue, and quite frankly, it's not kept up with the digital world.”
Pults rebutted that Union County’s kiosk system does not allow the publication of outside materials.
“They also say that they do not scan publications onto the kiosks, which is a key difference between mailing a letter, which is afforded on the kiosk — but publications and magazines are not uploaded onto the kiosk,” Pults said. “And there's an inherently different right with a publication or magazine.”
The three-judge panel took the case under advisement. There is no timetable for a ruling.
The Human Rights Defense Center, based out of Lake Worth, Florida, advocates for the human rights of people held in U.S. detention facilities, according to its website.
Union County is on the central southern border of Arkansas. In 2020, the population was 39,054 and was 64% white and 32.8% Black, according to census.gov.
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