Feds' request: Let us take on jail that bans all books except the Bible

The Justice Department, in its appeal to a federal judge in South Carolina asking to intervene in an ACLU lawsuit against a county sheriff, says the policy discriminates against non-Christians.

By Warren Richey, Staff writer / April 13, 2011

The US Justice Department is asking a federal judge in South Carolina to allow it to intervene in a lawsuit against a sheriff who allegedly forbids prisoners in his jail from receiving books, magazines, or printed materials other than copies of the King James version of the Bible.
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Berkeley County Sheriff H. Wayne DeWitt denies that restrictions imposed at the county lockup in Moncks Corner, S.C., rise to the level of a constitutional violation or violate US law.

He maintains that any actions taken at the jail are justified to preserve health and safety, and to further the pursuit of “legitimate penological objectives.â€