District Attorney Jared Effler, several staff, and victim’s family members visited State Representative Dennis Powers in Nashville last week in support of a bill banning “prison party photos.”
By Charlotte Underwood

NASHVILLE, TN (WLAF) – A bill that would make it a crime to publicly share photos of inmates taken inside of a correctional facility during visitation has been proposed in Nashville. House Bill 2653 and Senate Bill 3534 to “ban prison party photos” was proposed and drafted by District Attorney General Jared Effler, along with the help of two attorneys, Ron Laffitte and Matt McClung. They began the bill drafting process in late December 2018 after the photo of a convicted murderer surfaced on social media and was viewed by family members of the victim.

“Janet Brock is the victim in the case that led to the rise of our proposed legislation. She was a beloved elementary school teacher in Claiborne County who was murdered in 2005,” Effler said. He prosecuted the case as an assistant D.A. back in 2006. “She was beaten to death with an aluminum baseball bat; the forensic pathologist noted a minimum of 74 blows from the bat,” Effler said, adding that he had been a prosecutor since 1999 and this was one of the most “brutal murders” he had ever seen.
“That’s why this legislature is so important; victim’s families deserve to be able to move on and not be harassed,” Effler said.

According to Effler, the Tennessee Department of Correction hosts nine parties a year for prisoners. These include all state recognized holidays and the state “does not discriminate in what that inmate is serving the sentence for, they are given these parties regardless,” Effler said. It was at one of these TDOC hosted Christmas parties that the photograph of convicted murderer Jamie Scott Brock was taken with his “girlfriend” who was visiting him, according to Effler. The photo was taken by a photographer brought in to take pictures for the inmates, who could then purchase the photos for $2 a picture. According to Effler, the girlfriend received the picture and posted the photo to social media, as well as had copies made and sent out as Christmas cards.

“One of the victim’s family members saw the photo on social media and was of course upset by it. Here the family is trying to move on after having lost a loved one to a very violent crime and this picture of the murderer with his new girlfriend pops up,” Effler said. Effler said it was also “highly offensive” that prisoners were given these nine parties a year with “tax payer’s money.”  “I can only imagine how upsetting that was for Janet’s family, as they are spending another Christmas without their loved one, they see the person who murdered their aunt, daughter or sister having a party with his new girlfriend as though nothing has happened. I shared in their frustration as well,” Effler said, explaining at that point he began “investigating and contacting the department of corrections” where he learned the photo had been taken at one of the TDOC hosted parties. Effler then asked the department of corrections to alter their policy on photos based upon crime victims having a “constitutional right to be free of harassment and abuse.”  The department denied his request, which led him to draft the change to the state legislature. He proposed the bill to other district attorneys across the state and the group voted to add it to its legislative package for the year.

Effler and some of his staff and victim’s families visited with State Representative Dennis Powers and other legislators last week in a push to gain support for the bill.  “The support we received was very encouraging. In fact, many of the legislators we talked to were appalled to learn that the department of corrections was hosting nine parties a year for inmates, even those serving sentences for murder and rape of a child,” Effler said.  Providing these “prison parties” are a policy at the department of corrections, according to Effler.

“Their justification is they are charged with making the transition from prison back into the community a smooth one and that this is a tool they use in making that transition,” Effler said. He said he had originally thought a simple request to the department of corrections would solve the problem of the pictures being shared publicly.”  I thought once they realized that this was violating our state’s constitution by submitting crime victims to harassment and abuse throughout the criminal justice process that it would be changed, but unfortunately they didn’t see it like that, which is why we are taking it up legislatively,” Effler said.

The bill proposed would help protect the rights of crime victims and also give district attorneys an avenue of prosecution should photos be shared to the public. If the bill passes it would make the “dissemination of photos” a misdemeanor crime.

“It’s important to understand that as upsetting as this was to Janet Brock’s family, they have pointed out to us, think how upsetting this would be to a child rape victim who sees his or her perpetrator having a party on social media or print media or any other media. This is about protecting crime victims,” Effler said, adding that “prison is not supposed to be a country club.”

“These parties should not be something crime victims suffer for. This bill will help prevent that,” said Union County Attorney Ron Laffitte, who has assisted with the bill.  After lobbying in Nashville last week, the bill has picked up five co-sponsors, including State Representative Dennis Powers. Effler said he expected sponsorship to grow for the bill. “There is a bi-partisan sponsorship for the bill,” Effler said.

Powers said he saw the importance of the proposed legislature and planned to co-sponsor the bill.  “This is upsetting to see this happen. Victims should be free from harassment and how its currently written, victims are getting the short end of the stick,” Powers said.

Currently the legislation has been filed in both the House and the Senate and is awaiting the initial committee hearings. It is assigned to the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee and the Senate Judiciary. No date has been set for the hearings, though it is anticipated to be within the next few weeks. When those hearings occur, Effler, along with Janet Brock’s family will testify to the legislature about the “importance of the bill being passed.”

“It’s my job to be a voice for crime victims. If Tennessee’s constitution means anything where it says that crime victims have a right to be free from harassment and abuse throughout the criminal justice system, these prison party photos should not be disseminated,” Effler said.  (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 02/21/2020-6AM)

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