DATE: Monday, March 24, 1997                TAG: 9703220018

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   30 lines

THE EUROPEAN PLANVIRGINIANS OUGHT TO BE ABLE TO LEARN AS MUCH ABOUT WHAT IS BEING DONE IN THEIR NAME AND WITH THEIR TAX MONEY AS VISITING ITALIANS

How's that again?

A delegation of Italian officials opposing the execution of Joseph Roger O'Dell was granted an interview with the death-row inmate earlier this week.

``The overture (to arrange the visit) was made by O'Dell's attorneys,'' said Department of Corrections spokesperson David Botkins. ``That, coupled with an extensive search, the fact that it will be a non-contact visit and the fact that they are international dignitaries, made us feel like we could grant this brief, non-contact visit.''

Meanwhile, Corrections Director Ron Angelone has not allowed a single Virginia reporter to conduct a face-to-face prison interview with any inmate since 1995.

Pardon us, but shouldn't the people who are paying for Virginia's prisons have as much right as a European dignitary to see what's happening inside them? This absurd episode demonstrates once and for all that the policy to deny prison access to reporters has no higher purpose than to minimize bad press.

It's obvious that Virginians ought to be able to learn as much about what is being done in their name and with their tax money as visiting Italians are able to discover. The prison-access policy should be changed - today.

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