Thread by @BrittanyHailer

As an educator, I always think about how to explain the mechanism under which I work to up and coming young journalists. For #WorldPressFreedomDay I’d like to talk about how Allegheny County hasn’t responded to my questions in 70 days.

Covering the jail, questions have to go through the Spokesperson who works directly for the County Executive. In years prior, a question about the jail would be answered by the jail. Today, I cannot ask the ACJ administration anything without going through the County Executive.

Over the summer, the @pghcurrent broke the story about the book ban at the Allegheny County Jail. County Spokesperson Amie Downs called The Current “not a real news source.” After readers started calling her office, she readily provided comment.

In Feb, we published a story about lack of COVID-19 testing at the ACJ. The county provided answers from Warden Harper and The Health Department. This is the last time I’ve received any information without filing a Right-to-Know request.
pittsburghcurrent.com/covid-19-outbr…

Our story about testing at the jail was cited by a prison health expert in a district court. The court ruled the ACJ must text newly admitted incarcerated persons. I did a follow up story to which the county did not respond.

pittsburghcurrent.com/breaking-alleg…

That same month, @charliedee71 & I wrote about how since becoming Allegheny County Chief Executive in 2012, Rich Fitzgerald has never attended a Jail Oversight Board meeting. Here are some questions I sent to the county, which they chose to ignore:

pittsburghcurrent.com/county-executi…

For our latest investigation, I emailed the county asking whether the jail has an on-staff dietician for incarcerated persons. I emailed again to ask about worker compensation and social distancing protocol for workers at the jail. No response.
pittsburghcurrent.com/covid-19-roden…

There are at least four other jail stories since Feb that the county has failed to provide information.
So, what can a local journalist do when the county refuses? You can file a Right-to-Know request. This delays any story. The county can choose to extend their response 30 days

After that 30 day extension, they can choose to deny your request. You can appeal this denial and the Office of Open Records then decides what is public and what is not. However, the county also has the power to deny the OOR decision and take journalists to Common Pleas Court.

In fact, we are in the process of going to court to obtain a record that well-established state law says we are entitled to.

I requested the Allegheny County Health Department inspection of the ACJ kitchen through RTK. The county asked for a 30 day extension even though the inspection reports are on the county website.
pittsburghcurrent.com/covid-19-roden…

In another instance, jail policy records denied to me were granted to nonprofit organization. That same organization was denied certain policy records that I was able to obtain.
pittsburghcurrent.com/covid-19-roden…

These obstacles have created roadblocks for stories, delaying information for the public for weeks and months. Family members of incarcerated persons encounter the same opacity. Any Pittsburgh citizen can encounter this when seeking information from our local government.

It makes it harder for me to do my job, sure, and I will continue to provide as much documentation as I can to any story. But the county has demonstrated that it is not interested in having a public discussion and prefers to operate without accountability or access to public info

A person investigating the jail, a tax-funded entity housing Pittsburgh citizens, must jump through so many hoops in order to answer basic questions. So, for #WorldPressFreedomDay, I urge the county to increase access and transparency for folks who are trying to do their job.