BILL NUMBER:  AB 1440
  VETOED	DATE: 09/07/1999




Sacramento, CA

September 7, 1999

To the Members of the Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 1440 without my signature.  This bill
would allow journalists virtually unlimited access to convicted
felons incarcerated in California state prisons.

Under present law, journalists have ample opportunities to interview
convicts:  1) during regular visiting hours on the same basis as
family and friends; 2) by accepting collect phone calls from the
prisoner; 3) by written correspondence; and 4) by unlimited access to
the prisoner's lawyer.

This bill would give journalists preferential treatment by giving
them greater access than even members of the prisoner's own family.
Furthermore, according to correctional authorities, its
implementation would disrupt the orderly administration of prisons.

Moreover, this bill is inconsistent with the national trend to
reduce, not expand, rights of prisoners (e.g., prohibiting them from
profiting from their crimes by selling their "stories" via book,
television, or movie rights).

The purpose 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.

Sincerely,





GRAY DAVIS