Editorial: Under lock and key

Saturday, April 15, 2006 | 7:34 a.m.

A week after the firing of a state women's prison program manager who gave a state legislator an impromptu tour of the facility, the inmates were placed in lockdown and staff members were admonished because of reports that they had encouraged inmates to contact the American Civil Liberties Union.

According to a story in Friday's Las Vegas Sun, inmates were locked into their cells at the Southern Nevada Women's Correctional Center in North Las Vegas on Thursday so that administrators could investigate a rumor that senior staff had circulated ACLU contact information.

State Corrections Department Deputy Director Howard Skolnik told the Sun that it was "not appropriate" for staff to give inmates that type of information. Staff members told the Sun that prison officials searched cells and asked inmates whether they had tried to contact the ACLU or Assemblyman Harvey Munford, D-Las Vegas.

Munford spoke with several inmates during a surprise visit to the facility April 5. Mary Hester, who was the facility's vocational program director, gave Munford a tour of the prison that day. She was relieved of her job the next day, one month shy of the end of her one-year probation as a new employee. Inmates and staff have previously criticized the facility's medical care, and a handful of employees have filed complaints alleging harassment for pointing out the facility's faults.

A spokesman for Gov. Kenny Guinn told the Sun that state prison officials will begin investigating the prison's medical system next week. We hope they broaden their scope, as recent events suggest that problems may extend beyond the delivery of medical care. Prison staff and inmates who have legitimate questions about whether the facility is meeting standards for basic human rights and medical care should be allowed to raise those concerns without retribution.