ABSTRACT
The stubborn refusal of California corrections officials to grant their inmate newspapers freedom like that given to the Angolite in Louisiana had brought the conflict into the courtroom. Artie Bailey turned to the state's courts, appealing the administrator's decision under a California law protecting the First Amendment rights of prisoners. Incensed, Bailey appealed the decision through the various prescribed channels of review within the prison. The state argued in court that by virtue of its "ownership" of the prison paper, it should have all the rights of a publisher. In the spring of 1981, following the Christmas burning, when Diaz arrived for his appointment in the Solano County Superior Court, he was only the most recent case of an inmate-journalist seeking protection from the suppressive urges of state corrections officials. Diaz, a New Yorker serving time for first-degree murder, had been editing the Vacavalley Star since June of 1979. Diaz wasn't looking for a fight.
