Judge can’t prohibit inmate from getting tattoos after his release, court says

A federal prison inmate can’t be forbidden from getting tattoos after his release, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.

A judge in Kansas City had issued the unusual no-tattoo order in the case of Reyes Campos, who was sentenced in January 2015 to 100 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

After he leaves prison, Campos must serve three years of supervised release.

At the request of prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple prohibited the 37-year-old man from getting any tattoos while incarcerated and during that supervised release period.

Prosecutors had argued that the “excessive cost” of any new tattoos would be a “hindrance to Campos’ societal rehabilitation.”

Paying for tattoos could interfere with his ability to pay for court-ordered substance abuse and mental health counseling programs, prosecutors reasoned.

But that reasoning is unreasonable, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

Campos rightfully can be prohibited from getting tattoos while incarcerated because that would violate U.S. Bureau of Prisons regulations.

However, extending that prohibition after his release “hardly is related” to his “educational, vocational, medicinal or other correctional needs,” the appeals court ruled.

Campos ended up in prison after he fell off a bicycle in March 2013. Kansas City police officers found Campos lying on a sidewalk next to the bicycle and “behaving incoherently.”

As they righted the bike, officers saw two handguns and drug paraphernalia in a bag attached to the handlebars. As a convicted felon, Campos could not legally possess a firearm.

He is serving his sentence at a prison in Marion, Ill., and is scheduled for release in 2020, according to Bureau of Prisons records.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 12:33 PM.