DON'T CUT OFF PRISONERS FROM THEIR FAMILIES

Three-year-old Michael regularly visits his mother in prison. He plays with
her on the floor, gets reassuring hugs while sitting on her lap and kisses
her goodbye when it's time to leave. But if the California Department of
Corrections gets its way, Michael will be able to visit his mother only
through a glass partition and talk to her over a telephone--no touching, no
kisses.

The Corrections Department has scheduled public hearings in Sacramento
about proposed changes to visiting regulations that would profoundly affect
prisoners, their families and the communities to which most will someday
return. These proposed "tough on criminals" regulations would cause
tremendous hardship on thousands of children, family members and friends of
people in prison.

Under the new visiting rules, prisoners convicted of "possession for sale
and/or manufacture" of drugs would be forbidden contact visits for the
first year of their confinement. This would particularly affect
California's women prisoners, 42% of whom serve time for drug-related
crimes and at least 80% of whom are mothers. In addition, all visitors,
children included, would have to undergo criminal background checks before
being approved for visiting. Male prisoners, regardless of their crimes,
would be forbidden from holding children older than 7 on their laps during
visits. Under the new regulations, only immediate family and attorneys
would be able to visit prisoners who are in so-called security housing
units--confined to their cells 23 hours a day because they are accused of
violating prison rules. Corrections does not recognize domestic
partnerships or same-sex relationships as family.

Consider the extreme psychological damage to a person denied contact with
the outside world for years at a time. According to Corey Weinstein of the
watchdog group California Prison Focus, secure-housing prisoners "already
live under excessively harsh conditions as stated by the United Nations
Committee Against Torture. It is cruel to deny them visits with friends and
loved ones."

How much punishment is enough?

There is strong consensus among mental health professionals that
maintaining family and community ties through visitation increases a
prisoner's chance at rehabilitation. Similarly, quality visitation between
children and their parents increases the likelihood that families can heal
and move beyond the prison experience.

Because of separation from their parents, children of prisoners are six
times more likely to get caught up in the criminal justice system
themselves. The proposed new policy would only make children's
relationships with their imprisoned parents more fragile. The proposed
changes in visiting rules amount to cruel and inhuman punishment for both
prisoners and their loved ones. And by lessening the chances for
rehabilitation and consigning another generation to the system, the rules
are not in the long-term interests of the rest of us.