Local newspapers are contraband in the jail in Garfield County, Colorado (Wikipedia map). In fact, the only newspaper inmates at the Garfield County Jail in Glenwood Springs can read is USA Today, Troy Hooper of the Aspen Daily News reports. "It’s for the safety of our inmates," Steve Hopple, the jail’s commander, told Hooper. "I know that’s hard to quite fathom. But as our population grows, we run out of space for special-needs inmates and those special-needs inmates’ safety can be placed at risk."Hopple said "sexual predators and inmates convicted of crimes against children, for example, can be targeted by other prisoners seeking vigilante justice," Hooper writes. The jail fears information about those inmates in local papers make them bigger targets. As for the endorsement of USA Today, Hopple said it provides "well-rounded national news and it’s fairly comprehensive." (Read more)
Prisons are disproprtionately rural. Does the one near you allow local newspapers behind bars, or not? Why or why not?
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