STATE SAYS MAN CAN'T ATTEND BIRTH TO HIS INMATE-WIFE

CINCINNATI (AP) -- State officials won't allow a man to be with his
imprisoned wife when she gives birth to their child at the Ohio State
University Medical Center.

Sean Turner, 29, of suburban Mariemont, wants to be with his wife,
Barbara, when she gives birth to their first child.

Mrs. Turner is serving 21/2 years for drug offenses in Butler and
Hamilton counties. She is due to give birth this month.

"This is my first child, and I want to be there,'' Turner said. "I
know that Barbie did something wrong, but this is an innocent that's
involved here.

"I'm being punished, and the baby's being punished,
too.''

Mrs. Turner is in the Franklin County Pre-Release Center, where
pregnant inmates stay until it's time to give birth. About 900 babies
have been born to inmates in Ohio the past nine years, and no one has
been given permission to attend a birth, said Joe Andrews, spokesman
for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

The decision is up to prison officials, who cited security concerns in
rejecting Turner's requests.

"It's very unfortunate that he isn't able to do the things that a
normal father would be able to do, including witness a baby being
born,'' Andrews said. "However, (Mrs. Turner) gave up that right when
she came into the prison system being an inmate.''