Senate panel OKs bill barring inmates from some websites

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON 
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau 
• http://t.co/HX2VaFk  

Prison inmates would be banned from using Facebook, MySpace and Twitter through a bill that cleared a Senate committee Tuesday after a hasty rewriting to ease lawmakers’ concerns about the legality of the legislation.
“With these social networking sites, we have absolutely no control. I don’t really want to put the department in charge of who’s friending whom,” said Thomas Bickham, undersecretary of the state Department of Corrections.
Members of the Senate Committee on Judiciary B approved the legislation but chided prison officials for not doing enough to keep phones with Internet capability out of the hands of inmates.
A Facebook official said preventing the Internet traffic from streaming through the prison walls is the best solution although the social networking giant will delete inmate accounts that are updated by someone on the outside.
“If a state has decided that prisoners have forfeited their right to use the Internet, the most effective way to prevent access is to ensure prisons have the resources to keep smart phones and other devices out,” said Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications for Facebook, in an email.
Senate Bill 182 would make it unlawful for an inmate to establish or maintain an Internet-based social networking website.
Similar legislation to ban convicted sex offenders from using Facebook and similar websites is stalled in the House.
As originally written, SB182 also would have prevented anyone from establishing an account for an inmate.
State Sen. Lydia Jackson, D-Shreveport, said that would prevent people from establishing networking accounts to advocate for someone’s release.
She said advocates sometimes rally around the cause of a prisoner believed to have been wrongfully convicted.
“You are restricting my First Amendment rights because I am advocating on behalf of someone that is in jail,” Jackson said.
State Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, said the legislation needed to be tightened.
“I agree with your bill on principle,” Chabert told the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi.
“But I also agree with my social network savvy colleagues. This is an extremely broad law that you guys are putting out there,” Chabert said.
The committee amended the bill to ensure it would only apply to Internet activity initiated by inmates.
Several committee members wanted to know how that activity is taking place.
“Are we talking about Facebook and Twitter? How do these people even have access?” asked state Sen. Danny Martiny, R-Metairie.
Bickham said every prison except for the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola has trusties who go outside the gates to work at the State Capitol or perform other work.
He said the trusties bring contraband into the prisons even though they are searched upon their return.
“You’re not shaking them down well enough,” said state Sen. Karen Peterson, D-New Orleans.
She said the solution is to stop mobile devices from coming through the prison gates.
“This is totally unnecessary legislation, in my opinion, while there are good intentions,” Peterson said.
Thompson said inmates are not using the sites to talk about golf or their family’s welfare.
“They are intimidating people. They’re asking for money. They’re dealing drugs,” he said.
Bickham said inmates also are using the sites to search for companionship.
He said prison officials monitor inmates’ mail and phone calls but can do little to curtail Internet traffic through illegal cell phones.
Peterson made a motion to defer the legislation. State Sen. John Alario, R-Westwego, objected.
The committee rejected Peterson’s motion with two members voting to defer and four members voting to advance the bill to the full Senate.
Voting FOR deferring SB182 (2):  state Sens. Jackson and Peterson.
Voting AGAINST deferring SB182 (4): state Sens. Alario,, Norby Chabert, Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte, and David Heitmeier, D-New Orleans.