US appeals court in Chicago revives lawsuit on books in jail

CHICAGO – An appeals court has breathed life back into a lawsuit alleging policies at Cook County Jail in Illinois that limit the number of books inmates can have at a time violates their First Amendment rights.

The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reports the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t rule on the constitutional question in its finding last week. It returned the case to the lower court that tossed it with instructions to reconsider the matter.

Ex-inmate Gregory Koger’s lawyers challenged the policy of allowing detainees to have only three books or magazines in their cells. They said guards seized some 30 books in 2013 as he served a 300-day sentence.

The three-judge panel said the lower court needed to determine certain facts before a definitive ruling, including precisely what the jail’s book policy is.