Gov. Pat Quinn’s glib answer in rejecting journalists’ requests to visit Illinois prisons does nothing other than affirm a position that the public has no right to know what goes on inside these institutions.

Reporters from WBEZ radio and The Associated Press have asked to tour prisons in response to overcrowding and complaints about living conditions that might be the result of budget cuts.

“Prisons aren’t country clubs,” Quinn told reporters when questioned about his blanket denial at the State Fair in Springfield.