Quinn: Security Concerns Prompted End To Media Tours Of Prisons
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Gov. Pat Quinn says he didn't end media tours of Illinois prisons in order to cover up anything.
As WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports, state Treasurer Dan Rutherford recently criticized the governor's action, saying denying media access to the prisons removes a layer of transparency.
Rutherford says, "Taking away the sunlight is not a good thing."
But Quinn insists he ended the tours out of security concerns.
"It isn't Club Med. Prisons are not country clubs. They're not there to be visited, and looked at, and toured by this, that and the other," Quinn said. "It's important to understand that security comes first in a prison."
Some labor and prison watchdog groups have alleged that conditions in the prisons have deteriorated greatly. Quinn says he is covering up nothing.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger reports
