No Dungeons & Dragons in Prison

Inmates do not have the right to a 20-sided die, hand-painted orc miniatures, or escape fantasies, according to a panel of three federal judges. Despite acknowledging that there is no evidence that role-playing games move their players to real-life violence, the panel upheld the Wapun Correctional Institution's ban on Dungeons & Dragons. In the initial suit, prisoner Kevin T. Singer argued that his First and 14th Amendment rights were violated when prison officials banned the game and confiscated his gaming materials, including books and a 96-page handwritten manuscript he wrote. Prison officials argued that Dungeons & Dragons could "foster an inmate's obsession with escaping from the real-life correctional environment, fostering hostility, violence, and escape behavior." In gaming lingo: Singer asked the prison to roll a reality check, and it came up a critical failure.