Connecticut Considers Restricting Inmate Access to Open Records Laws

Connecticut may restrict prison inmates from using open records laws to get personal information to harass or threaten their guards, prosecutors, or other inmates. Washington, Arkansas, Michigan, Virginia, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Alabama, Georgia and Arizona have laws that limit or block inmate access to state open-records laws.

Connecticut prison guards are concerned about the requests of Richard Stevenson, who is serving an 86-year sentence for sexual assault and who is seeking off-duty arrest records for more than 100 guards.

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AP Seeks Video of Stinger Grenade Explosion in Prison Cell

The Associated Press filed suit against the Wisconsin Department of Corrections for its refusal to release a 2005 video showing a stinger grenade exploding inside a prisoner's cell after a guard dropped it.

The Department refused the open records request on grounds that the tape would jeopardize the security and safety of inmates and staff at the prison.  

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Provision in a Homeland Security Funding Bill Would Block Release of Torture Photos

The American Civil Liberties Union says a provision of the homeland security funding bill could block the release of photos of prisoners abused in U.S. custody abroad.  Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) proposed the provision, which would make such photos exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. 

The ACLU filed a FOI request for 2,000 photos of alleged abuse with the Department of Defense in 2003.  In 2005, a U.S. District Court judge in New York ordered the photos released, a decision that was upheld in 2008 by an appellate court.   The Obama administration has refused to comply with the order and asked the Supreme Court to hear the case.   

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Conn. Corrections wants to bar inmates from getting personnel files

The Conn. Department of Correction is concerned that inmates can file information requests and obtain home addresses and other data about department employees, the Record-Journal reported. A House bill "would prohibit the department's commissioner from disclosing personnel, medical or similar files, including security investigation records and complaints against current or former correction's employees, to inmates unless there is a court order to do so." Even if the bill were passed, inmates could find personal information about employees on the Web or have family members request the information. Since 2006, only five requests filed by Conn. inmates have been for personnel files.

Sometimes it only takes a letter.

Using the Freedom of Information Act to request employee files, prison inmates can learn the home addresses and disciplinary records of state Department of Correction workers. State law allows them access to the information unless the department can prove that the request would threaten employee safety.

It is a process that concerns the department, which worries that access to such information could lead to its employees being harmed or blackmailed, said Bryan Garnett, the DOC's external affairs director.

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Attorneys for convicted gang leader file records request

Attorneys for Kevin Foster, who received a death sentence for a 1996 killing, have asked the Lee Circuit Judge to review currently exempt records that may be used in an appeal, The News-Press reported.

Attorneys for Kevin Foster, ringleader of the 1990s gang the Lords of Chaos, appeared in court this morning asking for public records for his appeal.

Foster was convicted of one count of first-degree murder in 1998 in the April 1996 killing of Riverdale High School band teacher Mark Schwebes. The jury recommended 9 to 3 that Foster be put to death and that’s where he sits 11 years later — at the Union Correctional Institute on Florida’s Death Row. Foster’s death sentence was affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court in 2000.

He and his mother Ruby Foster were also convicted of conspiring to kill Judge Isaac Anderson and witnesses in the case.

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New law prohibits inmates from harassing agencies with requests

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill that seeks to stop inmates from overburdening the Department of Corrections with records requests, the AP reported. The law goes into effect immediately. The bill allows agencies or public employees to refer requests to a superior court judge, who will decide if the requests are legitimate, harassing or intimidating or if they could lead to a security breach.

Jail and prison inmates would be blocked from using public records laws to intimidate or harass state agencies and employees under a measure Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law Friday.

Gregoire quickly signed the bill the same day the Senate unanimously passed it after concurring with some changes made in the House. The House passed the bill on a 94-2 vote Wednesday.

The measure has an emergency clause and goes into effect immediately.

More here.

Also, Legislature approves bill that could limit inmate access to public records, Seattle Times, here.

Defense Dept. releases first FOIA documents about secret prisons

The U.S. Defense Department and U.S. Department of State released the first batch of records in response to a 2007 FOIA-based lawsuit, MSNBC reported.

The Department of Defense’s involvement in the CIA’s “ghost” detention program is certain, according to three human rights groups -- Amnesty International USA, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice.

They released documents today from the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of State that, they said, prove the existence of secret prisons at Bagram and in Iraq as well as the Department of Defense cooperation with the CIA ghost detention program. They also said the documents show one case where the Defense sought to delay the release of Guantanamo prisoners.

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Bill aims to stop prisoners from creating flood of records requests

A Washington Senate bill would allow courts to enjoin public records requests filed by prisoners in state correctional facilities, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. Supporters say the bill is necessary to stop prisoners from overwhelming the system with absurd requests, such as one asking the number of paper bags bought annually at each Department of Corrections facility. Others are worried that the vague language of the bill may make it applicable to other citizens.

The state Public Records Act of 1972 says its terms should be liberally applied to all citizens, but Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, thinks the law may be too liberal.

Carrell said it "isn't appropriate" to allow certain individuals unlimited access to public records, comparing what has been deemed excessive public record gathering to overfishing a sea of information. The ones doing the overfishing, he said, are those serving time in correctional facilities in Washington state.

The Attorney General's Office says about a half-dozen inmates are abusing the Public Records Act to threaten correctional staffers and overwhelm the system as a means to harass those responsible for keeping them behind bars.

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Wyo. bill calls for release of inmate info from county jails

As interpreted by attorneys, the current Wyoming law only allows the release of inmate information from the Department of Corrections, which operates state prisons. County sheriffs will be allowed to release booking photos and other inmate information in their position if the bill passes.

A proposed state law would allow sheriffs to release booking photographs and other basic information about inmates housed in county jails.

House Bill 72 has been endorsed by the House Judiciary Committee and is awaiting consideration by the full House of Representatives.

As interpreted by most county attorneys, Wyoming law allows only the Department of Corrections, which operates state prisons, to publicly release information on inmates.

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Washington S. Ct. Rules on Prisoner Access...

Per the AP...The state Supreme Court says prisons can keep government records away from inmates if authorities believe the information might be a security risk.

In a 5-4 ruling, the court says a prison's ability to intercept inmate mail does not conflict with prisoners' rights to obtain government information under the Public Records Act.

Dissenting justices say prison contraband policies shouldn't keep public records from an inmate, since the Public Records Act is supposed to trump other conflicting laws.

Thursday's case could have implications for a separate high-profile lawsuit over a prisoner's access to records. In that case, Attorney General Rob McKenna recently argued that felons have fewer rights to access government documents.

Federal Judge on Overseas Prisoners: Lemme See Those Records

A federal judge today ordered the CIA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide him with documents related to the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York ordered the government to make the documents available to him so he can determine for himself whether they should be made public pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations.

"Given the evidence of widespread and systemic abuse of prisoners, it is entirely appropriate for the judge to view these documents for himself instead of taking the government's word for why they should be kept secret," said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, staff attorney with the ACLU. "The right of the American public to know whether its own government respects the laws against torture is central to democracy. The Freedom of Information Act was designed to disclose precisely this kind of information and we are hopeful that the documents will be made public."

More here.