Interview ban challenged

A federal appeals court has ordered a trial in an inmate's lawsuit challenging a federal prison ban on face-to-face interviews of death row inmates by the news media.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago set aside this week the dismissal of the lawsuit brought by David Hammer, an inmate at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind.

The ban was imposed by then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2000 after Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh gave the CBS "60 Minutes" program an interview before he was executed.

"Hammer submitted evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that the media policy was implemented and is now enforced not because of safety concerns, but rather in response to public pressure to prevent death row inmates from voicing their views publicly," wrote Appellate Judge Ilana D. Rovner.