Cameras in prison

Q: We're trying to get a photographer into a state prison to take a picture of a kid who is serving eight years for kicking another man in the head in a fight. The inmate had a clean record previously. The prison has told us no cameras and I'm wondering if we have any recourse.

A: Unfortunately, for almost 10 years the California Department of Corrections has imposed strict limitations on media interviews with inmates, including disallowing journalists from bringing tools of the trade -- including not only cameras, but pen and paper -- into the prison. While the CDC has indicated it will relax these restrictions, it is still prohibiting cameras.

It is not clear whether you have any legal recourse. In a trio of cases decided 30 years ago, the US Supreme Court sharply limited journalists' right of access to prisons. See Pell v. Procunier, 417 US 817 (1974), Saxbe v. Washington Post, 417 US 843 (1974), and Houchins v. KQED, 438 US 1 (1978).

However, a majority of the Court seemed to agree that, while prisons could limit the press to the same access the public has to the facility, they could not prevent journalists from having "effective access" to those parts of the prison to which they were granted access. It is possible this and some other precedent might be used to build a legal case that might lead a court to overturn the CDC's restrictions on camera access.

There is one other avenue you might explore. We represent pro bono an inmate in San Quentin, and on occasion SQ allows a photographer into the prison to take photographs of the inmates with family and friends who are visiting (for a fee, of course). If the prison you are interested in allows a photographer to take pictures of inmates with visitors, you may be able to arrange for a photo that way.