As Seen In WI.com

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A man serving life in prison for first-degree intentional homicide lost his legal battle Monday to play Dungeons & Dragons behind bars.

Kevin T. Singer filed a federal lawsuit against officials at Wisconsin's Waupun prison, arguing that a policy banning all Dungeons & Dragons material violated his free speech and due process rights.

Prison officials instigated the Dungeons & Dragons ban among concerns that playing the game promoted gang-related activity and was a threat to security. Singer challenged the ban but the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld it as a reasonable policy.

Dungeons & Dragons players create fictional characters and carry out their adventures, often working together as a group, with the help of complicated rules.

Singer, 33, has been a devoted player of the fantasy role-playing game since he was a child, according to the court ruling. After the ban went into effect, prison officials confiscated dozens of Dungeons & Dragons books and magazines in his cell as well as a 96-page manuscript he had written detailing a potential scenario for the game that players could act out.

Prison officials enacted the ban in 2004 after an inmate sent an anonymous letter expressing concern about Singer and three other inmates forming a "gang" focused around playing the game.

Singer was told by prison officials that he could not keep the materials because Dungeons & Dragons "promotes fantasy role playing, competitive hostility, violence, addictive escape behaviors, and possible gambling," according to the ruling. The prison later developed a more comprehensive policy against all types of fantasy games, the court said.

The appeals court said the prison's policy was reasonable and did not violate Singer's rights.

STEVEN ELBOW

So you’re scraping by on minimum wage, and your hours were cut to 25 per week. You managed to put $300 in the bank, and you drive a beater you bought for $2,000. That puts you in the federal poverty bracket. But according to the state public defender, if you’re arrested, you won’t qualify for a public defender. If your boss cuts your hours to nine, you still wouldn’t qualify.

State Public Defender Nicholas Chiarkas calls the standards used to assess whether the poor can qualify for assistance from his office “an embarrassment.” They haven’t been updated or adjusted for inflation since 1987 and are the most stringent in the nation, he says. You have to be dirt poor to qualify.

MADISON - Wisconsin could become the 20th state to outlaw texting while driving for all motorists under a bill the Legislature approved Tuesday.

Gov. Jim Doyle has said he will sign the legislation that passed the Senate in October and cleared the Assembly on a bipartisan 89-6 vote Tuesday. Because the Assembly bill varies slightly from the Senate version, another vote will be required before it heads to Doyle for his consideration.

The biggest difference is in penalties. Both bills carry a fine of up to $400 for a first offense. But the Assembly version would increase that fine to up to $800 for a second offense, while the Senate version would not.

The vast majority of those who will be ticketed are teenagers who can't afford $800 tickets, said Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem.

"Let's make sure the penalty is not onerous," Huebsch said.

He argued for lowering the penalties to no more than $400, but the bill's sponsor successfully argued for keeping the higher penalties. Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said texting while driving is more dangerous than other offenses that would be fall under an inattentive driving ban that has lower fees.

"This is as serious as drunk driving," Barca said. "People are killed by people texting messages."

Nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million were injured in vehicle crashes in 2008 connected to driver distraction, including texting, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.