BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1866
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Date of Hearing: April 14, 2004
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Judy Chu, Chair
AB 1866 (Leno) - As Introduced: February 2, 2004
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 4-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Department of Corrections
(CDC) to allow representatives of the news media to visit
prisoners during the prisoners' regular visitation hours,
subject to the visitation approval process, and repeals
conflicting CDC regulations issued in 1996 restricting media
access to prisoners. This bill also:
1)Allows CDC to place reasonable time, place, and manner
restrictions on any news media visit for security purposes.
2)Allows an authorized media representative, as defined, to use
audio and video recording devices and writing instruments
during interviews.
3)Specifies that this bill does not prohibit a CDC official from
adopting a policy of prearranged visitation rights or greater
news media access.
4)Provide that no prisoner shall have his or her visitation
limited or revoked because of a news media visit, nor shall a
prisoner be punished, reclassified, disciplined, or
transferred as a result of participating in a news media
visit.
5)Allows an inmate to mail confidential materials to a media
representative without inspection by the CDC.
FISCAL EFFECT
Absorbable costs, if any, to the CDC. According to the CDC, less
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than 200 interview requests are received each year.
COMMENT
1)Rationale . According to the author, "This bill grants media
representatives the same access to CDC inmates that they had
been privy to for over 20 years, prior to 1996. The ability
of the press to conduct interviews is crucial in providing the
general public with a balanced and informed perspective on the
operations of the state correctional system."
"By providing the press access to correctional institutions,
we can better maintain public accountability of the prison
system and foster a safe and efficient correctional system.
This bill provides a balanced approach to media access,
accommodating the concerns of prison security and open
government."
Proponents contend there is no legitimate reason for a blanket
ban on media interviews with inmates and note the department
has documented no abuses of the processes in place from 1975
to 1996.
2)Background . The CDC allowed the media to conduct inmate
interviews from 1975 until 1996, when the CDC adopted
emergency regulations deleting this authority. Interviews were
conducted under conditions set by the institution. Interviews
with specified prisoners were permitted with prior approval
and were limited to no more than one interview in a 90-day
period for inmates in administrative segregation with a media
"pool" option for such inmates. In 1996 the CDC added specific
regulatory language that "inmates may not participate in
specific-person, face-to-face interviews." The CDC contends
the new policy "deters activities that would glamorize
criminals at the expense of their victims and the general
public..."
3)Suggested amendments .
a) To clarify the author's intent to generically qualify
eligible media representatives for inmate visitation for
interview purposes - rather than qualifying by requesting
visitation for a specific inmate - the author may wish to
amend the bill to state that a media representative may
apply to be an approved visitor at an institution without
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identifying a specific inmate on the application form.
b) The author also wishes to add laptop computers to the
list of acceptable journalistic tools that may be used
during a prison interview.
4)Prior legislation . AB 2101 (Migden), 2000, was identical to
this bill and was vetoed by Governor Davis, who stated, in
part, "?according to correctional authorities, its
implementation would disrupt the orderly administration of
prisons and interfere with the ability of inmate families to
visit their loved ones. The purposes of incarceration is
punishment and deterrence; it is not to provide additional
celebrity to convicts, many of whose criminal acts were brutal
and violent, thereby causing further pain to the victims and
their loved ones."
AB 1440 (Migden), 1999 was similar, and was also vetoed by
Gov. Davis.
SB 434 (Kopp, 1998), also similar, was vetoed by Gov. Wilson.
SB 1164 (Romero), 2004, is similar, but invalidates in full
the 1996 CDC regulations and provides for inmate interviews
outside of the regular inmate visiting program.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081