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| Rikers' officials censor Newsday story |
| By Newsday |
| Published: 03/01/2004 |
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Correction officials censored a Newsday article on a fatal jail beating from inmate copies of last Sunday's paper - raising the question of whether city rules were violated. The story detailed the fatal beating of Matthew Velez, a Bronx youth, on Jan. 31, 2000, at the Adolescent Reception Detention Center, a facility for teens on Rikers Island. The article described a series of procedural breakdowns by jail staff, which may have contributed to the youth's death. Early Sunday, the center's warden, Richard Palmer, ordered Deputy Warden Robert Shaw to report to the jail on his day off and oversee the removal of the Velez article from the copies of Newsday distributed in the center, correction sources said. The officials did not notify the Board of Correction within 24 hours, as required. Thomas Antenen, Correction Department spokesman, denied last week that the article was removed because it detailed errors by jail staff and acknowledged that the board was not notified, which he said "will be corrected." Instead, he cited sections of the story, which described gang activity at the center. "The wardens have the authority to do this when it is security-related or detrimental to the good order of the institution," he said. Under city rules, however, publications can't be "censored or delayed" except when they contain "specific instructions on the manufacture or use of dangerous weapons or explosives, or plans for escape." The policy doesn't mention "good order," broad security concerns or gang activity. |
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