Inmate may mail semen ***BARF ALERT***

A federal appeals court has reinstated a civil rights suit by a Lancaster state prison inmate who wants to artificially inseminate his wife.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling 2-1 on Wednesday, reversed a Sacramento federal judge who said that William Gerber, serving a life term in California State Prison-Los Angeles County, had no legal right to mail his semen to his 46-year-old wife.

Dissenting Judge Barry G. Silverman said the appeals court majority "does not accept the fact that there are certain downsides to being confined in prison" and said the majority opinion allows Gerber "to procreate from prison via FedEx."

Writing for the majority, Judge Myron H. Bright said the court was reinstating Gerber's case because the "right to procreate survives incarceration." Bright ordered the California Department of Corrections to show why the inmate's plan should not be carried out.

That means the state could prohibit Gerber from giving semen if the Lancaster prison can prove it would be a security breach to allow "the particular conduct at issue," Bright said.

California Department of Corrections spokeswoman Margot Bach said the department has not decided whether to appeal the decision.

Gerber, 41, filed the lawsuit while he was an inmate at Mule Creek State Prison near Sacramento, where he was sent after a 1998 Riverside County conviction for negligent discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon and making terrorist threats. He was transferred to Lancaster in April 2000.

Gerber is serving a sentence as a repeat offender of 100 years to life, plus 11 years, under California's "three strikes, you're out" law. This is his fourth time in state prison.

Gerber would be able to try to father a child the old-fashioned way if he were a prisoner not serving a life term.

In December, a federal appeals panel from the same circuit upheld California's 1995 ban on conjugal visits for prisoners convicted of sex crimes, crimes carrying life sentences, or violent crimes against family members or minors.

For three decades, California inmates with good prison records have been granted almost unsupervised overnight visits with loved ones in prison cottages. Prisoner rights groups say conjugal visits foster good prison behavior.

The only thing that the court ruled on was whether an inmate automatically forfeits his right to procreate, not whether or not this particular man gets too at this particular time. The prison can still demonstrate why Gerber's plan to collect and mail his sample to his wife should not be carried out and stop this in it's tracts.

Actually, this will probably be "in the system" for so long that by the time any inmate is allowed to pursue this ::dryly:: option, this particular mans wife will probably be too old to bear a child.

At least one can only hope...

Hate to say it, but Jesse Jackson had it right when he said that if Capital punishment made the state a murderer, imprisonment made it a "gay dungeon master."

Flawed statement from the beginning, sir. Capital punishment doesn't make the state a murderer, therefore, it cannot be the latter. The death penalty is an essential part of the American justice system, as is our prison system. Deal with it, and take your criminal coddling elsewhere. But then again, you leftists should know all about "gay dungeon masters".

..."conservatives" who so far, thanks to our "war on crime" have been willing to overlook basic moral principles in this regard.

Let's not forget the CRIMINALS who first overlooked basic moral principles. Since you feel so much sympathy for these poor misguided souls, why don't you start a halfway house-type operation in your own home? You could have the country club atmosphere you envisioned where the inmates could drink martinis all day long and mail out as much semen as they wanted. Heck - since they would be living with you, I'm sure they would have "other plans" for their semen... Report back to us in a few months, and let us know about your success, OK?

It very well does nullify Jackson's statement. I'm applying simple logic to his statement. Also, the liberals do indeed attack the prison system as well as the death penalty. For example, Hollyweirdos and other assorted leftists are always rallying behind a current inmate to be released from prison. (And yes, "neo-liberal" is the correct term. Jefferson was a true liberal.)

Good try on your attempt to paint me as a leftist sodomite supporter. Just because someone has no sympathy for a violent felon, doesn't make them a liberal. I do not care either way. If someone commits a crime severe enough to be incarcerated, they should expect this type of behavior from hardened, lifetime criminals who only follow their demented, animal-like instincts. Should prison guards try to curtail this? Of course, but you and I both know that it can't be stopped. Like I said, I honestly don't care what happens behind the prison walls. I wouldn't go so far as to call it "organized sodomy." The only ones who organize it are the inmates. Let me say it again: CRIMINALS are the ones who overlook basic moral principles. That is why they act the way they do in prison. Simple enough?

BTW - I noticed you're new here. Welcome aboard.

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