A death row inmate is suing to block a Tennessee prison policy that took effect on June 1 banning sexually explicit publications like Playboy and Hustler.

　　　Gary Bradford Cone contends in a lawsuit filed on May 31 that the state constitution protects inmates'' access to such material.

　　　Cone, convicted in 1982 of killing an elderly Memphis couple, is housed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Earlier in the week, he lost a U.S. Supreme Court appeal of his death sentence.

　　　Correction Commissioner Donal Campbell, citing security issues, gave prisoners the month of May to dispose of sexual materials before guards begin confiscating them. .

　　　But Cone's attorney, John Herbison, said the Tennessee state constitution, which says "every citizen may freely speak, write and print on any subject," offers broader free speech rights than the U.S. Constitution.Herbison said he will seek a temporary restrainingsgroupsagainst the prison.