BLOG BY KATE HAAKE: A free press is a crucial element of keeping those in power in check. Recently, I was contacted by the mother of Jason Washington, the former Griz football player who was convicted in the spring on federal drug charges for operating a medical marijuana business. She suggested that I interview him in prison while he was temporarily located to Missoula County. We in the newsroom agreed. After all, he was operating a medical marijuana business when the business was booming and legal under state statute. The feds are presently attempting to appeal his sentence and replace it with a longer one. He is one of two that have served such severe sentences in Montana, and I have to ask, does he really deserve it? Would our hard-earned tax money be better spent targeting methamphetamine dealers, building roads, schools, or improving the healthcare infrastructure? Enter bureaucracy: the bane of my existence and the threat to transparency. I called the jail Wednesday and was denied access until Thursday. Thursday I called and asked to interview Washington. Yes, you can see him Friday at 8:30 a.m. No pens, no paper, no recording devices, no camera, even though there is a glass panel between us, she said. When I told her I was a member of the press, she rudely told me it didn’t matter. It was rumored that he would leave tomorrow morning, though. Could I get in today? No. No. No. I called the commander at the jail and she directed me to the federal marshals. The marshals said I needed to obtain written permission from both attorneys and the judge before I am able to interview him. That’s the policy that has been handed down to him from a supervisor on a national level. “It’s for his own protection,” he said. I sniffed some serious B.S. I called Washington’s mother in frustration. We decided he should call me from prison—a 20 minute phone call was better than nothing. To make a short story, long, it took me two hours, three credit cards and some maneuvering of identities between me and a fellow colleagues, before I was able to put money on the phone so Washington could call me. Then, Friday morning, he moved prisons. A free press is a pillar that stands between democracy and tyranny – as evidenced in the former soviet republics of Central Asia. When the government intentionally darkens the glass of transparency with bureaucratic nonsense, we tread a very fine line. I can hurdle over the obstacles thrown at me, but these obstacles are no longer glitches in the road. They are impassable mountains. In short, it’s not for U.S. attorneys, a judge, or U.S. marshals to decide if I can interview a federal prisoner. In fact, they have no control over who I interview or what I write. If they prefer to have that control, I encourage them to visit Turkmenistan and experience firsthand the Supreme Era of Happiness. Try not to catch tuberculosis. There’s public interest in Jason Washington. We have a right to know.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 02:42:21 +0000
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