MANTI—The public information officer for the Utah Department of Corrections (UCD) says information in an inside-page story in the Sanpete Messenger on April 13 about Devin Blood, the warden at the Central Utah Correctional Facility (CUCF), is false.
In an email to publisher Suzanne Dean, Kaitlin Feldsted called on the paper to run several corrections and to admit “that the Messenger has no evidence to support the accusations listed in the article concerning the reason an employee was placed on leave. It must also print that it has no evidence to support the claim of nepotism.”
Dean said publishing the story was a tough call journalistically. But she said the newspaper had ample information from unnamed sources to support the article.
Dean said she tries not to use unnamed sources. But the UDC controls information so tightly that the only person who can talk about what is going on in the public operation, including at CUCF, is Feldsted. Any employee who talks to the media and gives his or her name is subject to being fired.
Following is the text of Feldsted’s email:
“The UDC responded to Messenger reporters/editors with a statement that certain information in the article was inaccurate and factually false pertaining to placing an employee on administrative leave. Despite this, the Messenger knowingly published the incorrect information, disparaging the conduct of two leaders and two staff members.
“The false and defamatory information is as follows:
• “That the CUCF warden was having an inappropriate relationship with a female employee. This is factually false. The Messenger staff and ownership knew this, publishing it as ‘rumors.’
• “The Messenger went on to say that the story was “modified” by its unnamed sources, that the warden had merely “put his arm around the female employee to comfort her … .”
“So, even though the sources admitted the original information was inaccurate, the Messenger chose to print it as a possible reason for the employee being put on leave. Again, the statements printed are factually false.
• “The Messenger went on to say that ‘nepotism’ played a role, accusing two long-time employees of lodging complaints directly with the UDC’s executive director, who is a relative. This is false.
“That the Messenger chose to publish such defamatory information purely on hearsay, without providing any concrete evidence to support such accusations, would meet the definition of libel.
“As a first step, the UDC is requesting a correction to be published concerning the story.
“The correction must mention that the Messenger has no evidence to support the accusations listed in the article concerning the reason an employee was placed on leave. It must also print that it has no evidence to support the claim of nepotism.
“The publication — and substance — of the correction will determine if the UDC will pursue additional steps.”
In response, Dean sent the following email to Feldsted:
“In terms of whether statements in the story were true or false, we can’t absolutely say one way or the other. Nor can we know the statements were false just because you say so.
“What I do know is that one of our reporters talked voice to voice with a prison employee who is above the correction-officer rank. He told her what we said in the story, including that the wife and sister (who work at the prison) were talking to Brian Nielson (the executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections) about what was going on at the prison. (It’s kind of implausible to believe a wife, and even a sister, is not talking to her husband or brother about what is going on in their jobs.)
“Meanwhile, I received some emails from another employee, who, based on his description of his position, was in administration. He said the identical things the first employee said.
“Here are a few excerpts from the emails:
‘Heard you have been asking around about some prison staff on administrative leave (Just one in particular). Not sure if you were aware or not but it was the warden, Devin Blood.
‘No wrongdoing by him—nothing was substantiated with any of the bogus claims. It was a witch hunt when he tried to manage relatives of the executive director. The real news is the gross display of nepotism that is running rampant there. Worse thing I’ve ever seen, period.
‘Executive Director Brian Nielson’s…wife (Kristy Nielson) and sister (Alisha Pritchard) both are employed there. Apparently they feel it has given them a pass to run amuck and make life miserable for everyone else. It’s the most toxic environment I have ever experienced.”
Dean’s email continued, “I wrote back and said the only thing we had heard was allegations of a sexual relationship. This was the employee’s response:
‘I’ve been told, the ‘sexual relationship’ you speak of was in the form of a hug and a kiss on the cheek when a staff member was struggling with some personal issues and recently not getting a promotion, she had worked for for four years. That was the extent of it…
‘Dig deeper into the nepotism issue, it’s the root of the problem. Any staff member working down front would agree, off record of course. No one is in the position to lose their job or tolerate the retaliation that would come with speaking out. Thanks for responding back. Hope you can come up with something; otherwise, it will just continue to fester.”
In her email to Feldsted, Dean said she had written back to the anonymous CUCF member and asked what day Devin Blood had been “walked off the property” and when he returned. The staff member responded:
‘He was actually welcomed back with open arms today (4/12) by all those not related to Director Nielson. From what little I saw, it was an overwhelming show of support by staff. I would have hated to see how things would have run without him there. He was abruptly placed on admin(istrative) leave on Friday, March 25.’”
Dean wrote back to Feldsted that in light of all the information the newspaper received, the story was fair and accurate.
She says apparently Feldstad and her superiors do not understand libel law. For a public administrator or public employee to prove libel for comments related to their job performance, the administrator or employee must prove “actual malice.”
Actual malice means the newspaper knew the information was false or published it with reckless disregard for whether it was true or false.
Dean said, “The Messenger staff believed and still believes the information from its anonymous sources is true and stands by its right and responsibility to report on the administration of CUCF and the Utah Department of Corrections.”
