CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Media Fight Ban on Execution Coverage

News organizations asked a federal judge Friday to overturn the San Quentin warden’s ban on reporters at executions, calling it an unconstitutional exclusion of the “eyes and ears of the public.” Attorney James Brelsford, who represented various newspapers, radio and television stations and media organizations, wrote in court papers: “When the government deliberately puts a citizen to death, it cannot be allowed to do so in secret.” The papers were filed in connection with a suit by San Francisco public television station KQED challenging Warden Daniel Vasquez’s restrictions on news coverage of executions, particularly his ban on cameras and tape recorders. The warden testified that he had no objection to reporters in the observation room outside the gas chamber but would rather exclude them than risk a court order requiring equal treatment for television crews with cameras. Vasquez said cameras would endanger the privacy and safety of guards and official witnesses and could touch off a prison riot.