State focusing on preteens in crack down on prison drug trafficking
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Hoping to crack down on prison drug trafficking, state officials have proposed rules to require preteens to undergo background checks before visiting an inmate and prohibit some children from sitting on their fathers’ laps. The proposals have sparked an outcry from advocate groups and inmates’ families, who have flooded the California Department of Corrections with thousands of letters of protest. They argue that the new rules demonize and degrade the families of inmates and further isolate prisoners from the outside world, making re-entry all the more difficult. “This is about the CDC further punishing prisoners and anyone who has an association with prisoners,” said Susan Jordan, whose husband is serving a life sentence at San Quentin State Prison. “The courts have already imposed a sentence. Why are they imposing another one?” The proposed visitation regulations for the state’s 33 prisons include background checks for every visitor, requiring picture IDs for visitors older than 7 and prohibiting any inmate convicted of drug sales or manufacturing from having a contact visit with family during the first year behind bars. Inmate fathers would not be allowed to hold children older than 7 on their lap at any time, and many prisoners would not be allowed to meet with anyone except immediate family or attorneys. Other proposals require visiting women to wear bras and limit a couple’s kiss to five seconds or less. More : sfgate.com |