Does lack of porn violate Constitution?

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) - A Michigan jail inmate has filed a federal lawsuit, saying authorities are violating his civil rights by denying him access to pornography behind bars.

Kyle B. Richards, 21, is in the Macomb County Jail awaiting sentencing Aug. 2 in a bank robbery case. He pleaded guilty Thursday.

The Fraser man filed a five-page, handwritten suit against Michigan and Gov. Rick Snyder on June 10 in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

In his complaint, Richards said denial of his request for erotic materials is cruel and unusual punishment. He claims the lack of pornographic material subjects him to a "poor standard of living" and "both sexual and sensory deprivation."

State Corrections Department spokesman John Cordell told The Detroit News that some sexual material is allowed in Michigan prisons, as long as it isn't violent or sadomasochistic. The Macomb County Jail, however, doesn't allow the material.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there is no clear-cut right to access when it comes to such material.

"Prisons have a lot of leeway to regulate the material that comes in and out," said Kary Moss, executive director of the ACLU in Michigan.

Richards was arrested in January after Fraser police said officers followed a trail of snowy footprints and dropped money from a bank robbery scene to Richards' nearby apartment.

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Information from: The Detroit News