A punishment that forces inmates who commit sex acts to wear pink uniforms is the subject of a lawsuit. South Carolina’s prisons chief defends the policy, but the plaintiff claims the rule subjects prisoners to undue ridicule.

State Corrections Department John Ozmint said the two-year-old punishment deters inmates and protects female officers. His agency has asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit.

“We don’t believe the United States Constitution protects an inmate’s right to publicly gratify himself,” Ozmint said. “We’re hopeful federal courts won’t look into our Constitution and create such a right.”

Inmate Sherone Nealous, 31, filed the lawsuit in June 2006, claiming the Corrections Department “is placing inmates’ lives and physical well-being in danger.”

“The color ‘pink’ in an all-male environment no doubt causes derision and verbal and physical attacks on a person’s manhood. This policy also gives correctional officers an easy avenue to label an inmate,” Nealous, who is serving a 10-year sentence for assault and battery with intent to kill, wrote in his lawsuit.

Nealous has never actually donned the pink jumpsuit, according to agency spokesman Josh Gelinas. Nealous is currently separated from the general population, Gelinas said.

Last week, attorneys for the prisons agency asked that the lawsuit be thrown out. A judge has not yet ruled on the request, and jury selection has been scheduled for this fall. [Yahoo News]

These guys got lucky in more ways than one. We heard the alternative was to make them dress as the 1976 Chicago White Sox.

(h/t S.C. Appellate Law Blog)