BILL NUMBER:  AB 1270
  VETOED	DATE: 09/30/2012




To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 1270 without my signature.

While it is important for our prisons to allow media access, this
bill goes too far.  This bill would give reporters expansive new
rights to record on-camera video interviews with virtually any state
prisoner-and, conversely, would give prisoners dramatically expanded
access to the television media.

Currently, reporters are allowed to correspond with inmates by
visiting them face-to-face, or contacting them by telephone and mail.
  Wardens can also let reporters conduct random face-to-face
interviews with tape recorders, notebooks, and cameras.  But this
bill would prevent wardens from denying on-camera television
interviews unless they pose "an immediate and direct threat."  This
standard is too high.  Wardens should be able to deny television
interviews when they may reasonably jeopardize safety or prison
operations.

Furthermore, giving criminals celebrity status through repeated
appearances on television will glorify their crimes and hurt victims
and their families.  And 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.

I agree that too little media access may be harmful, but too much can
be as well.  This bill gives too much.

Sincerely,



Edmund G. Brown Jr.