Wednesday, September 22, 2004
California SB 1164 Media Access to Prisons
Dear California friends,
Below is a letter that we ask you to sign onto for bringing media back into California Prisons. Senator Gloria Romero has put forth SB 1164. If you agree and are a California citizen, please do this. We need to shine light back into our prison system so that injustice can truly be stopped.
The Team at Juvies
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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB1164 Media Access to Prisons
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
I request a signature on SB1164, a bill allowing the media to do their job reporting on the conditions inside California's prisons. As you are aware, this was the law for many years. This bill is one component in a package of reforms introduced this year, and one of the most critical as recently documented in editorials in numerous newspapers.
Excluding journalists from the state's prisons is costing the state tens of
millions of dollars in settlement claims in addition to untold millions in
litigation expenses incurred by the Department of Justice. The bill is
opposed by the Department of Finance, which acknowledges there are virtually no costs. The Department of Corrections opposes because to allow the media within its empire would "glorify" prisoners.
The argument that allowing a free press inside our prison walls "glorifies" inmates is wholly without merit. No proof has ever been submitted showing "positive" stories about inmates result from media access. Rather, as in other subjects pertaining to the First Amendment, opening the gates to our institutions is the most fundamental right in a truly free society. It is only in a free society that we shine a light on all aspects of the government - including those the government prefer remain hidden. It is secrecy that results in the Abu Ghraib abuses, and secrecy that eventually leads to the disgrace that follows.
SB1164 is modeled after statutes in Texas and North Carolina, states
certainly not renowned for their coddling of criminals. In North Carolina,
where the standard we advocate exists, there is no evidence whatsoever that prisoners are glorified. Instead, prison officials overcharging the State for services never delivered are investigated. Budget overruns are found. Corruption is rooted out.
Specifically the bill does the following:
1) Permits the news media to interview prisoners in person, including
prearranged interviews with prisoners, unless the interview poses a direct threat to the security of the institution or the physical safety of a member of the public;
2) Allows The Department to establish reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions for prison interviews, including limitations on the number of interviews per prisoner;
3) Provides that news media are allowed to use necessary tools of the trade to conduct prisoner interviews, including writing materials and audio and video recording devices;
4) Requires that the department shall permit the news media to receive
confidential correspondence from a prisoner unless to do so would pose an immediate and direct threat to the security of the institution or the safety of the public.
You ran for election promising a new openness in government. SB1164 is an opportunity for you to carry out that campaign promise.
This bill is sponsored by the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Society for Professional Journalists, the California Broadcasters Association and the ACLU. I urge you to live up to the lofty ideals you set forth in your campaign and allow the media to return to California's prisons.
Sincerely,
# 9/22/04; 5:12:22 PM
