California prison media access bill clears Senate committee
For the third year in a row, Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, is pushing
legislation that would make it easier for reporters to set up interviews
with prison inmates. The bill, SB 1521, cleared its first legislative hurdle
this week in a 4-0 vote in the Senate Public Safety Committee.
At the hearing, Romero argued that more media access was necessary for the
public to better understand the problems with California's prison system.
"Right now, the budget of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
has ballooned to over $8 billion." said Romero. "Yet we continue to see
fiscal overruns, we continue to see riots and scandals."
See full story at Capitol Weekly