Fresh From Court

We've just now returned from the courtroom, where ACLU and Salsberg & Schneider cooperating attorneys argued on behalf of Richard Hatch, the famed "Survivor" winner who, for nearly a month now, has been held in solitary confinement in Barnstable County jail for "unauthorized contact with the public."

Hatch was picked up from his home, where he was serving time in home confinement for tax issues, and thrown into solitary last month.

His latest troubles started August 17, when he gave an interview to NBC, which the Bureau of Prisons had preauthorized. Hatch criticized his prosecution on the tax issues, and shared his opinion that he was prosecuted, in part, because of his sexual orientation (he is gay) and his TV notoriety.

That didn't go over well. The day after the interview, the prosecutor on his case called in to a radio talk show and said that Mr. Hatch was "delusional" and his theories "ludicrous." Mr. Hatch then made his own call to the show to defend himself against the prosecutor's comments. Police took him into custody shortly after that.

Today, Hatch appeared in court, looking hopeful as attorney Michael Schneider argued that his client deserves release or release back to home confinement, as he did nothing wrong by defending himself on-air, and acted within his rights. Hatch wasn't even in prison, where courts have upheld some restrictions on media access based on security needs. Yet even then, as Schneider said in court, "The First Amendment doesn't stop at the prison wall."

Attorneys for the Bureau of Prisons argued that their policy requiring preauthorization for any media contact extended to Mr. Hatch's confinement at home, and that the permission they granted him to speak to NBC did not extend to the radio call-in program that followed. They also claimed that Hatch's punishment was in line with prison policy, and that Hatch was not being singled out.

We argued that holding anyone in solitary confinement as punishment for participating in a call-in radio program is excessive (Hatch doesn't need to be held in solitary to prevent him from having access to the media), and we questioned whether other prisoners would, in fact, be treated as harshly as he has been.

Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton gave both sides the chance to offer further arguments in writing by the close of business Wednesday, after which he will either call a new hearing or make a decision on the case. Hatch will likely remain where he is until then.

The Bureau of Prisons claims that this case has nothing to do with First Amendment rights -- but we believe that it does. Hatch seems to be being punished simply for speaking up against what he believes is discrimination and unfair treatment.

The fact that he has been treated so harshly also raises alarms for us. As Mr. Schneider said after the hearing, this treatment was "clearly retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights." Every citizen, imprisoned or not, deserves the rights and protections granted to them by the Constitution -- and where there are no logical, reasonable rules regarding media contact (such as in this case, where Mr. Hatch was far from the prison where intense media interest could cause problems), no punishment should have been administered.