D&D promoting gang activity in prisons?

[Aberzanzorax]

I also think it's funny that D&D is banned because:

-It requires the ability to read, write, and do math (which are good, constructive skills).

-Most D&D is written for 4-5 people, that'd be a pretty small gang.

-Somehow I don't think the D&D crew is likely to shank someone in the yard for some bonus XP.

-Leadership skills are an inherently bad thing?



I get it that people in prison have lost a lot of rights, and there's no reason that D&D couldn't be taken away. I just don't see any real reason why it should/needs to be.

Also, as much fun as I have playing D&D, I don't think it'd be enough fun to make me enjoy prison, just sayin'.

 

[frankthedm]

So prison aren't there to rehabilitate only punish.

How does describing punishment as "a fundamental aspect of imprisonment" become "only punish"?

“After all, punishment is a fundamental aspect of imprisonment, and prisons may choose to punish inmates by preventing them from participating in some of their favorite recreations.”

 

[Dragonbait]

I know that whenever I score a cit I have to go out and shiv a person of another race in the public showers.

 

[Mercurius]

Time to switch to Pathfinder, Mr. Singer.

 

[CuRoi]

About time I get some street cred as a Dungeon Master.

Listen up, I'm the new boss on the cell block. You want to stay alive - you come to me. They call me DM, but you new guys can just call me "Master". Let me lay it out for you so you can maybe do your time here peacefully without me sticking this sharp, pointy d4 somewhere uncomfortable.

1) 5 cigs x level to advance. I don't smoke, but believe me I know plenty in here that do. I'll trade these for the occassional Mountain Dew or sometimes save 'em up to trade for the latest splat book from WotC. I got a connection you see - Fat Tony is doin' life for knockin over a game shop and making the owner "disappear". They caught him but they ain't never found his stash.

2) You play an elf or a pixie, that's your problem. DONT come runnin to me when your cellie takes a liking to your..."character".

3) Playin "the game" as we call it isn't allowed by "the man". You get caught, I don't know you. If you rat me out, your PC won't just die - he'll wake up with a severed griffon's head in his bed and then I'll drop him in a forcecage with a Rust Monster. Next I'm droppin in a Disenchanter. Next, I'm stuffing the cage full of Shadows, then Wights and finally, I'll give your PC a ring of regeneration, drop in a Gelatinous Cube and Rule Zero that he fails the paralyze save.

4) Keep the tube your dice came in. It helps when during searches due to rule #3. If I gotta explain, you aren't cut out for this.

5) No Rules Lawyering. Most of the guys you see in here, last person they saw was their lawyer. Naturally this was right about the time the lawyer said he'd try to help them and right before they got 20 to life. You rules lawyer, someone's gonna feed you some dice.

Anyone got anymore advice for the new guys before they go rollin' up a character?

 

[CuRoi]

Time to switch to Pathfinder, Mr. Singer.

Naw, he should go with GURPS and make a GURPS campaign based on Law Enforcement where everyone plays cops and DAs.

 

[Firebeetle]

Lots of funny haha jokes. I appreciate a good sense of humor as much as they next guy, but. . .

This has some implications for all of us as the case moves forward*. A legal precedent that D&D leads to gang activity, as foolish as that is to those who know better, creates an issue for those who play. Any D&D player in a trusted position, public sector or private, faces unwanted scrutiny of the worst kind. Unfounded accusation that seems credible is almost impossible to defend against unless the people your are trying to convince is perfectly reasonable (which is rarely the case.)

For example, a teacher who plays D&D has a parent who is angry with her for whatever reason. The parent brings attention to the teacher's status playing of playing D&D at the school board meeting, and that a federal court believes it promotes criminal activity. You can see how things will get very hard for the teacher quickly.

Or someone is trying to start a D&D club at a library, things are going well until a library volunteer, who also spends a lot of time at a church that still teaches D&D is a Satanic game (yes, they are still out there.) Her Satanic arguments may fall on deaf ears these days, but a federal court case? If prisoners can't play it, should our children be playing it? That's what the argument will be.

This is bad. I've called for some advocacy on my blog:
World's Most Dangerous DM: Seventh Court of Appeal fail Intelligence check
In particular, here's a petition:
Let Kevin T. Singer play "Dungeons and Dragons". Petition
and here's the prisoner in question's address (I believe)
Kevin T. Smith
c/o Waupun Correctional Institution
200 S. Madison St, PO Box 351
Waupun, WI 53963-0351

In particular, I think that we can directly challenge the ban.

If we sent solo D&D adventures, complete with character sheets and sheets of randomized dice rolls, then we are sending in D&D materials that can't lead to gang activity because they are solo. This makes the "D&D = gang activity" much more difficult and puts the prison in the position of having to seize materials that are written by individuals, thus a more direct violation of First Amendment rights. Just an idea off the top of my balding head.



* besides the fact that it's just wrong to punish a prisoner who wants to do something nerdy.

 

[CuRoi]

My humor was specifically to point out the absurdity of the ruling. However, I seriously do not see this spilling over into the mainstream. Prisoners can't do lot's of things people outside of prison can do...cause well, they're in prison.

They aren't allowed cell phones, in some cases there's a long list of books they can't read (pornography included), they aren't entitled to minimum wage, they get all their mail screened, I'm sure the classic game "Twister" is banned, etc. etc. etc.

I mean the "if prisoner's can't do it, should we let our kids" argument falls a bit flat.

The guy killed someone with a sledgehammer, I mean seriously, I'm not planning on sending him notes of condolence about the loss of his hobby. I'd also recommend against sending him your home address without getting all the facts in the case (which I do not have). Do I find the ruling inane? Sure. Do I think maybe some sledgehammer wielding murderer might try to form a prison cult based on the challenge rating system? You know, possibly.

Do I think the kid down the street is going to form a street gang based on DnD? Ummm no, and I seriously doubt the ruling even implies that. If you want to prove how lame this ruling is, go ahead and form a DnD street gang and take it to the "wrong side" of whatever town you are on. Spray paint some polyhedrals over the local MS-13 graffitti and start a timer to see how long the gang of dice rollers..errr rolls. While one side is tossing little bags shouting "Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt" the other will be pointing an assault rifle your direction. That will shut down any argument that DnD "Gang Violence" is a threat to society.

I'm as geeky as the next DnD player, but I don't think activism is warranted. If anything, the next headline will read "DnD Players Unite with Sledgehammer Murderer" - let's see what that does for the hobby.

 

[Stoat]

The case will not "move forward". This is a year old decision by a Federal Court of Appeal. The only way the case could continue would be for the Supreme Court to decide to hear it, and the time for that to happen is long past.

CuRoi is right. Prisoners are subject to levels of control and intrusion in their personal lives that would be unacceptable, even illegal, in the outside world. This is not a precedent setting case, the court applied settled law and found the ban on D&D to be reasonable.

Is it dumb for a prison to ban D&D? Maybe. Does a prisoner have a First Amendment right to play D&D? No.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

While I do disagree with the ruling and understand your concern, I, too, am of the opinion that this has little application outside of the limited parameters of the penal system.

For the reasons CuRoi pointed out, its unlikely that a competent lawyer defending a claim against a citizen who is not incarcerated based on some misguided attempt to blame gaming for ___________ would actually lose.

Besides, my skepticism at the ruling aside, it is true that prisons are a pretty bizarre environment in which the rules of normal civilize society sometimes don't apply. Many inmates have serious mental disorders- some developed post-incarceration- and hair-trigger tempers.

Last year, a French inmate killed his cellmate and ate part of him before the guards arrived. Reason: "I wanted to eat his soul." Add a FRPG to that equation (which may include "soul eating") and who knows what happens.

You ever hear about a prisoner being assaulted over a cigarette or a cup of pudding? Imagine if that same guy just offed your 11th level halfling Sorcerer.