Lawsuit Filed Over Lack Of Porn Available In Jail

LANSING (WWJ) - Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and the state of Michigan are the target of a lawsuit filed by a Macomb County inmate.

Twenty-one-year-old Kyle Richards claims cruel and unusual punishment because the Macomb County Jail does not allow inmates to possess pornographic materials.

In a handwritten lawsuit, Richards claims his civil rights are being violated. He says denying his request for erotic material subjects him to a "poor standard of living" and "sexual and sensory deprivation."

The Michigan Department of Corrections says that prisons allow some pornographic material, though it's banned at the jail. The American Civil Liberties Union says prisons have a lot of leeway.

Richards was charged with bank robbery after police followed a trail of snowy footprints and dropped money to his apartment from a bank robbery scene in January in Fraser.

There's been no comment on the lawsuit from the governor's office.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.