VALDOSTA —
The Valdosta Daily Times’ Open Records request concerning violent incidents in the Valdosta State Prison was denied Monday.
The Department of Corrections (DOC) denied all requests in the Times’ Open Records filing, stating that, under Georgia law, the documents do not have to be released.
After receiving phone calls from concerned individuals who have knowledge of recent violent prison attacks, the Times submitted the Open Records request to Department of Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens.
Before doing so, the Times tried to contact VSP Warden William Danforth and was denied access to him.
The public information officer for the department did not respond to calls or questions submitted by the Times.
Kristine S. Pham, assistant counsel for the Department of Corrections, responded to the Open Records request in writing, stating that the request was denied for several reasons.
“These records are either part of the department’s investigative reports which are classified as confidential state secrets .... or part of the individual’s medical file.”
Pham also stated that the department “will not release records which may implicate security concerns,” citing a section of the Georgia Annotated Code.
The Times is disputing the attorney’s statement and refiling the request, as although the newspaper did request specific names and incident dates, the Open Records request also asked for “information concerning injuries sustained by inmates and guards at another’s hands at the prison since January 2009.”
The state could have fulfilled this portion of the request by redacting names, which would have protected the identities and medical files of the individuals.
The Times is also disputing Pham’s statement that attacks on prison officials are deemed protected as security concerns.
The Code section Pham refers to is largely written for potential terrorist attacks and denies access to blueprints, information concerning security devices, plans for protection against terrorists, or security plans and vulnerability assessments.
With no accompanying explanation on why this section was cited, it is unknown which of these criteria is being invoked in the denial.
The Times will continue to pursue the information through the state Department of Corrections.
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Open Records request denied
Prison attacks deemed state secrets
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