Beard v. Banks

Beard v. Banks
Argued March 27, 2006
Decided June 28, 2006
Full case nameJeffrey A. Beard, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Ronald Banks, Individually and On Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated
Docket no.04-1739
Citations548 U.S. 521 (more)
126 S. Ct. 2572; 165 L. Ed. 2d 697
Case history
PriorRespondent's motion for summary judgment granted in the District Court; reversed, 399 F.3d 134 (3d Cir. 2005); cert. granted, 546 U.S. 1015 (2005)
Holding
Prison officials had adequate legal support for their policy of withholding reading material from incorrigible inmates.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia
Anthony Kennedy · David Souter
Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Case opinions
PluralityBreyer, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Souter
ConcurrenceThomas (in judgment), joined by Scalia
DissentStevens, joined by Ginsburg
DissentGinsburg
Alito took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
Rev. Stat. §1979, 42 U. S. C. §1983; U.S. Const. amend. I

Beard v. Banks, 548 U.S. 521 (2006), was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court in which the petitioner, Ronald Banks, challenged the constitutionality of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections policy of denying access to written material such as newspapers and magazines, to violent ("Level 2") inmates, on the grounds that the policy was a violation of his First Amendment rights, including freedom of speech.[1][2]

  1. ^ Beard v. Banks, 548 U.S. 521 (2006).
  2. ^ "Beard v. Banks". Duke University Law School. Archived from the original on September 3, 2007. Retrieved October 28, 2007.