Let Light Through Prison Walls

Four years ago, as part of a broad effort to make “hard time” even harder, California prison officials barred face-to-face media interviews with specific inmates. Reporters now can interview--with pencil and paper--only inmates they randomly encounter while touring a facility. They may arrange to visit a specific inmate but may not take along a notebook, pencil or tape recorder.

The officials who imposed these rules argued they would prevent the media from glorifying criminals, but the Department of Corrections has been hard-pressed to provide examples of such a problem during the two decades when arranged face-to-face interviews were permitted.

The current rules cloak in secrecy all 33 of California’s state prisons, which operate under a department responsible for more than 162,000 inmates, 39,000 employees and an annual budget of $4.6 billion.

With prison overcrowding at record levels and troubling instances of officer brutality and cover-ups, the public has the right and responsibility to know how a growing slice of its tax dollars is spent. Media access is not glorification; it’s a prudent measure to ensure accountability.

Then-Gov. Pete Wilson imposed the interview ban. Gray Davis, his successor, could have unilaterally lifted it but chose not to. A bill now before Davis would restore the right of the press to arrange interviews with inmates. Davis is reportedly inclined to veto the measure, fearing being stuck with a soft-on-crime tag. If so, he should reconsider.

California’s penal system employs more workers than any other state entity except the state universities, and the prisons are of necessity closed institutions. This combination makes media access imperative. The public should know what goes on behind the walls.