Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would have expanded media access to specific prisoners.
“Giving criminals celebrity status through repeated appearances on television will glorify their crimes and hurt victims and their families,” Brown wrote in his veto message of AB 1270, sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco.
Current prison policy allows reporters to conduct random interviews with inmates, but they cannot specify which inmate to interview.
“The cost of implementing and monitoring this expansive new level of access should not be imposed at a time when prison budgets are being cut,” Brown’s veto message said.
The bill would have prevented authorities from retaliating against inmates who granted interviews. A request could be denied if authorities concluded the interview would endanger prison security or the physical safety of someone inside or outside of custody.
The current controversies produced by prison overcrowding and last year’s prisoner hunger strike attract the attention of the media, a Los Angeles Time editorial noted. “Despite that, California’s prisons are notoriously off-limits to the kind of scrutiny that is routine for most public agencies. Questions about living conditions behind bars, for instance, are difficult to pose and report.”
“I agree that too little media access may be harmful, but too much can be as well,” Brown’s veto message concluded.
