6.28.2007

And We Thought American Courts Were Nuts!

From the wacky foreign verdicts file, we have this gem: Sweden OKs prison porn for rape convicts
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Convicted sex offenders are free to read pornography in their cells, a Swedish court ruled, saying the country's prison system had no right to deny an imprisoned rapist access to his porn magazines.

Officials with the Swedish Prison and Probation Service had argued that reading porn would interfere with the man's rehabilitation program. They also said the magazines posed a security problem for staff and other inmates because they could increase the risk of the man relapsing into criminal behavior.

But the Supreme Administrative Court in Stockholm, whose ruling last week cannot be appealed, said the prison service failed to prove that the magazines could "jeopardize the security of the institution."
Yumpin' Yiminy! If you ever have to go to prison, it's pretty obvious that Sweden is the place to go. I wonder if poor Scooter Libby could get some kind of foreign exchange program, assuming that Bush doesn't pardon him, which he should. At least he'd have access to spank material in his cell.

America: Cruel and unusual punishment is an execution where the convicted murderer might feel a little pain when the needle goes in his arm for the lethal injection. Sweden: Cruel and unusual punishment is no porn magazines for rapists. Because, you know, prisons aren't supposed to actually punish people! That's not what they're for... Is it?