restoring media access to California's prisons

I've spent yesterday and today going over the proof of the 2nd edition of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women. I reread every single word that I wrote (and some of the typos that I unfortunately submitted the first time around) and was reminded of the power of the media to shame prison officials into halting injustices:

In 1999, Nightline aired a six-part series on conditions at California’s Valley State Prison for Women. After prisoner after prisoner told Nightline anchor Ted Koppel about being given a pelvic exam as “part of the treatment” for any ailment, including stomach problems or diabetes, Koppel asked the prison’s chief medical officer, Dr. Anthony DiDomenico, for an explanation.

“I’ve heard inmates tell me they would deliberately like to be examined. It’s the only male contact they get,” DiDomenico answered in front of the cameras. That DiDomenico made such a statement on network television demonstrates the belief that, no matter how egregious their actions, prison officials will not be held accountable. When a local TV news program aired DiDomenico’s statement, however, he was reassigned to a desk job in Sacramento and an investigation was begun.481 Without media coverage of this sexual misconduct, DiDomenico most likely would have stayed at his position. Prisoner advocacy organi- zation Legal Services for Prisoners with Children had been reporting the prisoners’ complaints about medical staf f’s sexual misconduct to the CDC for four years with no result. After the Nightline series aired, not only was DiDomenico reassigned, but a second doctor was relieved of his duties six months later. As of 2001, both doctors had been criminally indicted.

Today, a petition landed in my inbox. Assembly Bill 1270 restores the ability of journalists to conduct pre-arranged interviews with individual prisoners and to exchange confidential correspondence with them. It allows journalists to write down and record their conversations with people in prisons.

The bill has passed the Assembly and the Senate Public Safety Committee. The Department of Corrections is opposing AB 1270, saying it would cost too much money (in fact the costs are minor). Perhaps the CDCR is more concerned about what other inhumanities and injustices they might be forced to correct within its multi-billion dollar industry?

A petition is going around to voice support for allowing media access into prisons. Click here to sign:
http://signon.org/sign/let-the-light-...