Prison Bans D&D For Mimicking Gang Structure 496
Trepidity writes "In a case that has been winding its way through the courts for a while now, a Wisconsin prison banned inmates from playing Dungeons & Dragons, using the justification that 'one player is denoted the Dungeon Master... [who] is tasked with giving directions to other players... [which] mimics the organization of a gang.' The prison also cited some sparse evidence that a handful of non-inmate D&D players once committed some crimes that allegedly were related to their D&D playing. On Monday the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the regulation (PDF) against challenges from inmates. The court appeared skeptical of the ban, sarcastically referring to it as the 'war on D&D,' but upheld it nonetheless as having a 'rational basis.' Law professor Ilya Somin suggests that the court may have had no choice, given how deferential rational-basis review usually is."
Re:Should they be playing games in prison, anyway? (Score:5, Informative)
Most prisons have some leisure time alloted, which wasn't really at issue here--- the warden had no problem with there being leisure time, he just didn't want D&D played during that leisure time. The prison appears fine with inmates watching TV or reading books or playing chess or whatever during that time.
Mostly what caught my eye is the absurdity of "D&D has a dungeonmaster who gives orders, which is like a gang" rationale. There might be some good reason prisoners should have less leisure in general, or should be prohibited from playing D&D in particular, but that particular reason is pretty absurd.
Re:Is it just D&D ? (Score:4, Informative)
If you can't use dice, you can make pages of the numbers 1-n repeated in a matrix and have the roller close his eyes and point to a number with a pencil. Change sheets regularly so they can't memorize locations. Just as random and no problems due to lack of dice (which I assume were contraband to avoid craps playing?)
Re:No worries (Score:1, Informative)
They are now all playing Mafia Wars.
Why are so many people playing that game? Is it modern day D&D?
Pretty much. Except it's less entertaining. The game has almost no redeeming qualities. It's just buttons you click over and over. The "social" aspect is almost totally void because the UI doesn't really take advantage of your network of friends... well, it leaches them to spread itself like a virus.
D&D is much more social (people in front of you) and much more involved as there's a complex story telling element. Mafia Wars is so restricted that you can only click the same buttons hundreds and hundreds of times ... to the point you start to ignore what they say. No imagination of "my mafia" anymore. Just buttons... clicking... clicking... clicking...
Re:Is it just D&D ? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Is it just D&D ? (Score:5, Informative)
It took me until the end of the comic to realize it wasn't a joke. WTF?
THIS IS WHAT CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS ACTUALLY BELIEVE.
Re:Is it just D&D ? (Score:5, Informative)
Do these elements show socialization skills? Cooperative ability? Evaluation of morals? Imagine if the prison ruled that all players must be Lawful Good. All these scenarios acted out in imagination helps decision-making, provided there's a good GM in charge of player role accuracy. I actually think role-playing games could be very useful. Role-playing is quite useful in psychological counseling, is it not?
If I were imprisoned, I'd consider it a significant investment in an opportunity to work hard on improving myself, so as to no longer be a detriment to society. I would certainly not expect to be permitted to write Mein Kempf, or plot my next Una-Bomber attacks, much less communicate with folks on the outside to plot the next tragic act in my Jihad against the Great Satan.
Prison should be about rehabilitation, not detention. In there, it is a battle for hearts and minds on an individual level, and the treasure of redemption. I say someone takes the fight into the dungeons, and helps slay the dragons on the inside of every man's heart.
Re:Is it just D&D ? (Score:5, Informative)
"Fundamentalist" is not an inherently negative term. The term actually originates due to a series of essays entitied "The Fundamentals" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fundamentals [wikipedia.org] published around 1900 which argued for a return to fundamental forms of Christianity. They were actually surprisingly modern. For example, they were more or less ok with an old earth and somewhat ok with evolution. So just because someone self-identifies as a fundamentalist does not mean they are a raging nutcase.
More generally, just because someone considers themselves to be a fundamentalist in a general sense is not a reason to stop being a fundamentalist. They may simply understand that their beliefs are classified as such and also think that those beliefs are simply correct. The fallacy of equating fundamenalism to being wrong is the same as equating extremism in general to being wrong. How extreme a view is is not intrinsically related to how correcr it is. In 1820 anti-slavery sentiment in the United States was an extreme belief. In 1600, heliocentrism was an extreme belief. Arguments of the form "X is extremist or fundamenalist so X is wrong" simply don't hold water.
Re:Is it just D&D ? (Score:5, Informative)
A commonly held misbelief.
According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, crime levels are at about 79% of what they were in 2006. Or about 84% of what they were in 2005. There was an uptick in crime in 2001, but other than that, crime has been declining pretty steadily since 1986.
Re:Having worked in a prison (Score:3, Informative)
It seems that any alternative could similarly be misinterpreted by prison staff. Any RPG that would incorporate scenarios with weapons, conflicts, and corrdination by a game master would be subject. Switching to a highly futuristic realm might help shift the focus away from some perceived threats (e.g., "I'll stab him with my dagger") but could also add others (e.g., "I'll shoot him", "I'll blast him with my laser"). The same could be said of creating unique words to represent common objects (e.g., "'ungala'" instead of 'knife'")--codes can be broken and using them might do more to raise suspicions.
This topic really tugs on something inside of me. I often use my imagination to create stories and scenarios in my own mind, but my times of playing AD&D (and other games) with a group of friends were by and far someof the most enjoyable times and stories I have in memory. I cannot imagine being in such a controlled environment that even a game like AD&D would be denied me. I would likely fall back to writing more fiction, and then sharing those stories with others, perhaps setting up story exchanges. Could a group decide on a topic or scenario each week, and then have each member write a story that fits the scenario? The stories could be shared and then another member could pick the scenario for the following week. That misses the collaborative aspects, however.