I find it rather interesting to hear complaints from well compensated state union workers who have ability to make personal decisions that haven't been lost. These well paid public servants needn't be concerned with the simple things in life such as regaining their freedom.. Instead they want to scream for more money, bigger pension funding and more bloated government. Typical isn't it? Shut your traps and get your lazy asses to work for your taxpayer funded paychecks. Maybe you should be incarcerated a few montha while you await trial so we can see what your concerns are then, huh?
Inmates' heavy usage of Right to Know Law becoming problematic
Inmates account for 31 percent of the nearly 2,300 appeals of record denials that made their way to Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records over the past year.
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| Terry Mutchler, executive director of the Office of Open Records, is asking for more money to run her office that has been deluged with record denials from inmates. |
Adolph quipped changing the state's Right to Know Law as it relates to inmates might eliminate the need for a funding increase.
“Seriously, we have to amend that law to get it back to its original purpose,” Adolph said.
With that, he was the first of several Republican and Democratic lawmakers who spoke in favor of tweaking the 5-year-old law that brought greater transparency to government to address issues that have come to light since its implementation.
Mutchler said since the office opened, it has seen an 89 percent increase in the record appeals it receives and each month seems to bring more appeal cases than the one before.
Bringing Penn State, Pitt, Temple and Lincoln universities more fully under the Right to Know law’s disclosure requirements, another change to the law under consideration, will surely add to her office’s six attorneys’ workload, she said.
Mutchler asked lawmakers to up her office's appropriation to $1. 8 million next year to do its job more effectively, instead of the $1.4 million that Gov. Tom Corbett proposed in his budget.This year, it receives $1.37 million.
The additional money will help cover rising pension costs, the cost of hiring another attorney, and costs associated with the office's move to a permanent location within the Keystone Building, she said.
Adolph pledged that the committee would try to do its best in finding more money for the office. But he also was interested in hearing more about what records inmates are requesting.
Mutchler said their requests ranged from wanting to know the type of material used to make inmates’ underwear versus that of the guards, the ingredients in prison food, sentencing orders and records related to their convictions, among other records.
House Democratic Appropriations Committee Chairman Joe Markosek of Allegheny County said, “It sounds like these inmates have too much time on their hands.”
Mutchler said other states have separate process for dealing with inmates’ record requests. She said Texas, for example, has the Department of Corrections handle inmates' requests and the appeals arising out of record denials.
She said initially she didn’t favor different rules for inmates. Having them become the most frequent of the records’ appeal process has caused her to rethink her position. It impacts the amount of time and consideration her office can devote to other cases.
What's more, she said, "there’s also this to consider, inmates aren’t allowed to do a lot of things other citizens can do.”
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