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| Death row inmates under television blackout |
| By Houston Chronicle |
| Published: 09/13/2004 |
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A proposal to give death row inmates access to television is getting poor reception from the head of the Texas prison system's board of directors. Of the 38 states that have capital punishment, Texas is the only one that does not allow condemned prisoners at least limited access to TV, say attorneys with the Texas American Civil Liberties Union. They also are the only Texas inmates who aren't allowed some amount of viewing time, a privilege that some experts believe helps ease behavior problems. The ban doesn't appear likely to change in the near future, say ACLU officials, who can't get the chairwoman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice to even discuss the subject. In May, ACLU prison project litigation director Yolanda Torres attempted to broach the idea in a letter to Chairwoman Christina Melton Crain. "We believe it is significant that every other death row in the country has successfully developed and implemented policies and practices that allow death row prisoners access to television, while at the same time maintaining the safety and security of their employees and institutions," Torres wrote. Crain responded two months later that the issue was not open for debate. "The Texas Department of Criminal Justice does not provide television privileges to offenders (on) ... death row," she stated, "and the board of criminal justice has no plans to amend this policy." Life on death row has been drastically different since 1999, when the condemned inmates were moved from the Ellis Unit in Huntsville, where they were allowed to watch television, to what is now the Polunsky Unit in Livingston. Privileges for death row inmates were reduced to the level of administrative segregation, or solitary confinement. Now condemned prisoners are confined for 23 hours each day in their cells, which measure 6 1/2 feet by 10 feet. They receive one hour of daily recreation, either in an inside recreation yard or outdoor recreation area. They also receive their meals in their cells, are escorted to showers once daily and are escorted to the infirmary if they need medical care. Death row inmates also no longer participate in work programs. |
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