THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702150380
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Staff writer Robert Little and The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 167 lines
The Department of Corrections cannot continue its all-out ban on allowing reporters inside Virginia's prisons, a Senate committee decided Friday.
Department policy says requests for personal interviews will be considered on a case-by-case basis. State prisons chief Ronald Angelone has not granted a request in the past year. Only telephone interviews have been allowed.
The Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee voted 8-6 to endorse a bill improving news organizations' access to prisons. The bill would require the state Board of Corrections to draft a new policy allowing face-to-face interviews as long as they do not disrupt operations or jeopardize security.
Prison officials offered to negotiate with press groups if the committee would reject the bill, but Democrats made it clear they did not trust the Republican administration.
``I'm sick and tired of what this department has been doing the last three years,'' said a visibly agitated Sen. Joseph V. Gartlan Jr., D-Fairfax. He told Public Safety Secretary Patricia West that he doubted she would be able to force Angelone to open prisons to the media.
Angelone's tenure as corrections director has been marked by a number of controversies and embarrassments, including the discovery of a loaded handgun inside an executed inmate's typewriter.
Republican Gov. George Allen opposes the bill, and the committee vote was split along party lines.
Forrest Landon, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, told the committee that ``an unhealthy adversarial relationship has taken root'' between the press and the Department of Corrections.
He said the department receives an average of one request every three weeks for an interview inside a prison, a number that is not unduly burdensome.
Landon said in-person interviews are better than phone interviews because inmates will not speak candidly if they fear their conversations are being taped.
But Michael Leininger, the corrections department's legislative liaison, said telephone interviews are ``the easiest and most accommodating.'' He said prison officials especially dislike having inmates interviewed before television cameras.
As originally introduced by Del. William P. Robinson Jr., D-Norfolk, the bill would have required the department director to write a rule ensuring ``reasonable'' access by the media.
The committee voted 8-6 to approve Gartlan's amendment turning the rule-making authority over to the corrections board.
ALSO FRIDAY Bill to limit injured workers' options is killed
A House committee killed a bill that would have limited the options for maritime workers injured on the job and seeking compensation.
The bill, proposed by Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, and backed by the state's largest shipbuilder, would have forced injured workers to first seek redress from the federal government. Workers would be able to turn to the state only if they were turned down at the federal level.
Workers now may appeal to both the state and federal governments at the same time.
Virginia's 35,000 shipbuilders, longshoremen and commercial sailors are covered under both federal and state compensation laws.
Stolle and representatives of Newport News Shipbuilding argued that the restriction would save money for maritime industries.
But the bill's opponents said it would hurt workers.
Bob Hatten, a lawyer for Newport News Shipbuilding workers, said the federal government is more generous than the state in giving compensation, but it can take as long as three years to get a decision. The state gives less but can decide in as little as six months.
He said companies were hoping injured workers pursuing claims with the federal government would run out of money and time and settle for a smaller amount.
The House Courts of Justice Committee killed the bill on a 17-5 vote.
CLEANER AIR: The Senate will consider Monday whether to create a program for certifying laboratories that test air, water and waste samples for compliance with the state's pollution laws.
The bill is designed to create more accurate compliance standards. One government study of test results from 1989 to 1995 found that only half the testing facilities in Virginia meet all of the state's accuracy standards.
Some supporters of the proposed guidelines claim, however, that the bill still contains a significant loophole. Industrial facilities that test their own samples would be exempt as long as they comply with certain federal standards.
STATUS REPORT
The status of some of the major legislation in the 1997 General Assembly:
MONEY
SB 1089, Y.B. Miller, revising the unemployment trust fund formula in an attempt to lower taxes paid by businesses, passed Senate and House.
SB 750, Colgan, to repeal the personal property tax and replace it with an increase in the state sales tax, failed in Senate.
EDUCATION
SB 1193, Barry, to create charter schools, in Senate committee. This is the bill the governor sent down Friday.
HB 2212, Diamonstein, dissolving the State Council of Higher Education, which is appointed by the governor, and reconstituting it with six members appointed by the governor and five by the legislature, passed House, in Senate committee.
ABORTION
SB 1148, Earley, to require notification of parents when an unmarried minor seeks an abortion, passed Senate, in House committee.
HB 2898, McClure, to prohibit partial-birth abortions, killed in Senate committee.
PUBLIC SAFETY
SB 994, Stolle, to allow joint trials of drug gang members, passed Senate, in House committee.
SB 495, Earley, to allow a murder prosecution for killing a fetus by means other than abortion, passed Senate, in House committee.
PUBLIC LIFE
HB 2549, Cranwell, to allow alternative, publicly financed campaigns, killed in House committee.
SJR 376, Earley, constitutional amendment banning casino gambling, failed in Senate.
NOTICED & NOTED Jefferson-Jackson Dinner features Cabinet officer
Saturday night in Richmond is the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, an annual Democratic fund-raiser, attended by the party faithful.
The keynote speaker: Richard Riley, U.S. secretary of education.
In a letter Friday to President Clinton, Gov. George Allen made note of Riley's appearance and suggested to the president that ``this is an ideal venue for the Secretary to provide the encouragement necessary to allow students, teachers and parents in Virginia to benefit from this promising opportunity for public education.''
The opportunity to which he referred is charter schools.
WHAT'S NEXT
The General Assembly works toward its finish line. Adjournment, Feb. 22, is scheduled for one week from today.
The House Courts of Justice committee meets at 7 p.m. Sunday. . . . Some Senate committees also meeting Sunday. Monday's floor sessions convene at noon.
ALSO: A Senate committee discussing the repeal of a law allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana for medical reasons drew so many people Thursday that the committee put off a decision until Sunday to give the issue a fair hearing. The issue is scheduled to come up in a Senate Education and Health committee meeting that starts at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
CONSTITUENT VIEWPOINTS
A toll-free hotline to provide the citizens of the commonwealth the opportunity to express their views on issues before the General Assembly.
1-800-889-0229
For more information:
The Clerk's Office
House of Delegates
P.O. Box 406
Richmond, Va. 23218
804-786-6530
The Clerk's Office
Senate of Virginia
P.O. Box 396
Richmond, Va. 23218
804-786-3838 ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michael Lienenger, left, deputy director of the Department of
Corrections, tells a Senate committee on Friday that his department
prefers reporters to contact inmates by phone. Del. William P.
Robinson Jr. of Norfolk, right, introduced the bill in the House.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY