Inmates do not have a constitutional right to play electric guitar in federal prison, a U.S. appeals court ruled. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a ban on guitars, keyboards or other electronic instruments for federal prisoners, ruling it does not violate their constitutional right to express themselves musically. By a 2-1 vote, the panel upheld the rationale by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons for the ban and rejected a challenge by inmates Brett Kimberlin and Darrell Rice, who wanted to play electric guitars at a federal prison in Cumberland, Maryland. In 1995, when the ban went into effect, the only instrument allowed in the Cumberland prison was the harmonica, but inmates who already had a guitar or electronic keyboard were allowed to keep them. (Agencies) | 近日美國美國哥倫比亞巡回地區上訴法院規定，聯邦監獄中的囚犯不允許在獄中彈奏電吉他，因為憲法沒有賦予他們這樣的權力。 該法院對禁止服刑犯人擁有電吉他、鍵盤或其他電子樂器的禁令。盡管憲法規定囚犯有權在獄中用音樂表達自己，但該法院認為這一禁令并不與之沖突。 通過一項2對1的投票表決，上訴法院通過了美國聯邦監獄管理局對獄中囚犯使用電吉他的禁令，并拒絕了囚犯達雷爾·賴斯和布雷特·金伯林想要在馬里蘭坎伯蘭監獄彈奏電吉他的要求。 1995年該禁令實行后，坎伯蘭監獄的囚犯們被允許擁有的樂器就只剩下口琴了，但在此之前已經有電吉他或鍵盤的囚犯被批準可以保留這些樂器。
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2003-02-17 01:00
