Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer in 1981 and was sentenced to death. Since then, millions of people around the world, such as Hollywood stars, college students and Amnesty International members, have rallied to prevent Abu-Jamal's execution and to prove his alleged innocence.

This kind of attention is what the California State government is trying to avoid by vetoing a bill that would give the media the right to interview prisoners in private.

California's policy was established with Pell v. Procunier in 1974. The United States Supreme Court ruled that the press and the public could observe minimum-security sections and talk to any prisoner in sight and interview prisoners at random. But press could never interview one on one.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections has a different set of rules when it comes to the rights of prisoners talking to the press. In order to obtain an interview, the media must request one ahead of time with a particular inmate. The inmate is given the opportunity to accept or decline the interview. All interviews are supervised by a corrections officer, and it must be about the inmate's crime, not prison policy.

"We have the right not to grant interviews at anytime," said Joe Andrews, DRC spokesperson. "We do not let any live interviews with the electronic media. We have the right to restrict any type of interview."

Carrie Mimnaugh, DRC spokesperson, said all DRC policies have particular reasons for being in place.

"Inmates have no impact on these policies so they really cannot talk about them," Mimnaugh said. "It is mainly a security issue."

Dru Evarts, Ohio University professor of journalism, said it is important to balance free speech with keeping media attention under control.

"I think there is a danger that (inmates) can be made into media stars, but I think controlled access is appropriate."

High security prisons such as the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown do not allow any interviews with inmates, Andrews said.

"Most inmates there are in segregation (in the hole)," he said. "No one in any of the prisons is allowed to talk to the media while in segregation."

Other restrictions on interviews include: no press conferences or telephone interviews, no interviews longer than an hour and no compensation for inmate interviews, said Lynn Goff, Ross Correctional Institution warden assistant.