California's Governor Vetoes Bill Granting Journalists Access to Prisoners

On September 30, 2012, Governor Jerry Brown of California vetoed a bill which would have restored media access in the California prison system (CDCR) to the level it was at before the prison system reduced the ability of journalists to interview specific prisoners.

Assembly member Tom Ammiano, who sponsored AB 1270, decried the veto. "Press access isn't just to sell newspapers. It's a way for the public to know that the prisons it pays for are well-run," said Ammiano. "The CDCR's unwillingness to be transparent is part of what has led to court orders on prison health care and overcrowding. We should know when the California prisons aren't being well run before it goes to court. I invite the Governor to visit the SHU [special housing unit/solitary confinement] to see for himself why media access is so important."

"People need to know what happens in our prisons, while Governor Brown has been in office thousands of people have gone on hunger strike, and the Supreme Court intervened to address severe overcrowding and medical neglect," said Emily Harris, statewide coordinator for Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB). "It is the wrong move for Governor Brown to continue to restrict media access in our prisons, it begs the question: 'What doesn't he want the public to see?'"

Current CDCR rules allow reporters to go on escorted tours of prisons and speak with prison officials and some pre-selected prisoners. To interview an individual prisoner, a reporter would have to get a prisoner to request that the journalist be added to the prisoner's visitor list. This only occurs after a lengthy vetting process and the request must be initiated by the prisoner. The only other options are for the journalist to pose as a paralegal accompanying an attorney, conduct the interview over the phone (which is monitored, of limited duration and interrupted by recorded messages), or hope to bump into the specific prisoner in a particular part of the prison where interviews are allowed (such as the recreation yard) during a guided tour.

The bill would have allowed media request for interviews and follow up interviews with specific prisoners. It had passed the legislature with support from the California Newspaper Association, the California Correctional Peace Officers' Association and prison wardens, among others. It was sponsored by CURB, the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, the Friends Committee on Legislation, the Center for Young Women's Development and the Youth Justice Coalition.

Sources: curbprisonspending.org, latimes.com

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