NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES DECLARED DANGEROUS IN POLK COUNTY JAIL

UPDATED Saturday, 04 March

As of Monday, inmates at the Polk County Jail facilities will no longer be allowed to read newspapers and magazines in their cells, and only one newspaper --- USA Today --- in the recreational yard.

Officials with the Polk County Sheriff's Office, which operates the jails in Bartow and Frostproof, claim safety concerns as the primary reason for the near-ban. In addition to the fire hazard from cell clutter, jail administrators say that the ability of inmates to read about each other's charges and cases incites violence.

Sheriff's Major Steve Lester was quoted in the Lakeland Ledger story as saying:
"It's dangerous for inmates to read local news..."

And Sheriff Grady Judd, who is in Washington, DC for a National Sheriff's Association conference, was quoted by the Ledger in a Saturday story from a phone interview earlier this week as saying that he feels that it is a luxury for inmates to have access to newspapers and magazines:

"This is county jail, we don't serve espresso and latte, they're not going to read a newspaper."

Among the instances noted by PCSO officials in justifying the restriction:

Former inmate Preston Cassada was found unconscious inside his cell in 2001 -- with several broken ribs and two collapsed lungs -- after inmates learned that he uttered racial slurs and shot a black co-worker.

In April, Shane Desalvo was beaten by fellow inmates when they found out he was arrested for a hate crime.

The fire hazard issue came about during the hurricanes last year, when inmates at the South County Jail in Frostproof reportedly used newspapers and magazines to set fires in their cells.

PCSO spokesperson Scott Wilder says that the decision to allow inmates to have the Gannett-owned national newspaper USA Today was a compromise, noting that the Sheriff's Office meets it's security needs while giving inmates access to a newspaper, albiet only in the rec yard.

Needless to say, the decision has concerned inmate support groups as well as the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. It's not decided, though, wheather to challenge the new rule.