James West, the Mother Jones reporter who was charged in March with trespassing at a Louisiana prison, faces a judge trial on Thursday in Louisiana’s 8th Judicial District Court. Sheriff’s deputies from Winn Parish, La., busted West on March 13 as he drove away from the Winn Correctional Center, a state-owned prison managed by Corrections Corporation of America. They found that West, who is Australian, had a camera-equipped drone with him. “If I was doing a story, I wouldn’t want to be out there at night. Those guards out there have guns,” Winn Parish Sheriff Cranford Jordan told the Erik Wemple Blog at the time.
Mother Jones Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery declined to speak on the record about the case. (Disclosure: The wife of the Erik Wemple Blog, Stephanie Mencimer, works as a staff writer at Mother Jones.)
Considering that news organizations prefer not to publicize stories in progress, the events of March proved a bit troubling for the lefty magazine. West’s arrest preceded the resignation of Shane Bauer as an employee at the Winn Correction Center; Bauer also happened to be a senior reporter at Mother Jones, a guy whom Jordan called an “operative” for the magazine inside prison walls. Mother Jones stood behind both men: “James West was stopped by police while news gathering in a public place and arrested when he refused to show the contents of his camera. Shane Bauer is an award-winning criminal justice reporter. He did not conceal his identity or employment history from CCA. If and when he chooses to write about his experiences, we’ll be happy to discuss it further,” said the publication in a prepared statement.
Winn Parish District Attorney Chris Nevils says West faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison or a $500 fine. He was unable to comment on whether prosecutors are discussing a plea agreement with West’s counsel.
Both West and Bauer have continued writing for Mother Jones, though a peek at the magazine’s archives suggests they have yet to write up their experiences at the Louisiana CCA facility.