Topeka — In July 1998, security personnel at the state's prison outside El Dorado shook down the cell of inmate Turik Fox, who was serving time for rape, aggravated kidnapping and attempted murder.
They found a piece of Fox's artwork on his desk a poster. It featured a Confederate flag, marijuana leaves, goat skulls and pentagrams.
Fox planned to sell the poster outside the walls, and officials told him to put it in the mail. He refused and told the prison to donate his art to charity.
The prison took possession of the poster. Fox then filed an administrative grievance.
When the grievance was denied, Fox took his case to district court, then to the state Court of Appeals. A three-judge appeals panel ruled unanimously against him Friday.
Prison officials saw the poster as a security threat, something that could rile other inmates.
In one record, the prison said the Confederate flag could be construed as having "racial connotations" and that the goat skulls and pentagrams had "Satan connotations." The marijuana leaves, prison officials said, connoted illegal drug use.
The appeals panel noted that the prison didn't prevent Fox from making the poster but seized it only after he refused to mail it.
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