ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609180005
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRUCE MORRIS
IN YOUR Sept. 2 editorial (``Prisons must be accountable'') and in the Aug. 30 news article (``What's going on in our prisons?'') regarding media access to prisons, you neglected to point out that no one's First Amendment rights are being violated.
You say the Virginia Department of Corrections is denying the public access to information about what is happening in prisons to shield officials from accountability - a statement that isn't only blatantly untrue but is unfair.
The department works tirelessly to facilitate telephone interviews with inmates, provide corrections-related data for the public and press, and to be proactive in accommodating the public and media's needs.
The Department of Corrections is not avoiding "inconvenient scrutiny," but being accountable to the taxpayer. Just because a reporter feels he or she should have carte blanche access to prison inmates doesn't make it appropriate. Accommodating reporters' needs in a slightly different way from what they would prefer doesn't mean the department is hiding anything or violating First Amendment rights.
In fact, many other states are following Virginia's lead when it comes to media access to prisons. Inmates have access to phones. They can write letters, have radios and televisions, and can tune into newscasts. Reporters have been able to get the necessary information to complete their articles.
When a reporter interviews me, often it's by telephone, not in person. If reporters would be honest about it, it's actually more convenient for all parties. What makes interviewing an inmate any different? If reporters insist on the need for in-person interviews to determine the validity of a claim, they need to do a better job of separating the wheat from the chaff.
Bringing reporters into prisons means the security staff has to be pulled away from maintaining order and control of that institution. Inmates will use anything out of the ordinary to act out. Allowing them this opportunity isn't good security policy. It makes even less sense when you know the same thing can be accomplished with a phone interview.
Yes, a lot of taxpayer dollars go toward the state's prison system. And taxpayers deserve - and expect - tightly run, efficient, safe and secure facilities. In providing these, Virginia is leading the nation.
Taxpayers don't expect us to parade reporters through prisons at all hours and to put security at risk, especially when sufficient mechanisms are already in place to accommodate the media's needs.
Bruce Morris is deputy secretary of public safety for Virginia.
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