Procunier

We treat this case as a companion to Procunier v. Superior Court (1 Civ. 33586) ante, p. 207 [ 110 Cal.Rptr. 529 ], and the question is whether the court’s order requiring disclosure of assertedly privileged information in the possession of petitioners, i.e., building plans, lay-out plats, maps and diagrams that depict the Correctional Training Facility at Soledad (Items 20 and 26) and lists compiled by the Department of Corrections for security purposes indicating inmate membership in organizations known as the Mexican Mafia, the New Family and the Aryan Brotherhood (Item 10), violated petitioners’ privilege to refuse to disclose official information.

Of course, it was the duty of the Attorney General, as the authorized representative of petitioners, to assert below the privilege to refuse to disclose official information pursuant to Evidence Code section 1040 and to advise the trial court that disclosure was expressly forbidden by a statute of this state (Gov. Code, § 6254, subd. (f); see also Gov. Code, § 6255). He neglected to do so.

However, in our opinion, an overwhelming public and governmental interest dictates that the security of the prison system and the…