Editorial: Don't cut prison visits
The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)
Sometimes it seems that Florida's prison system is driven by a relentless desire to find new ways to degrade and dehumanize the inmates behind bars. So it should come as no surprise that the people who visit inmates are being subjected to degrading treatment, too.
Now inmates aren't the only ones who must be strip-searched prior to visitation; it seems that their visitors must also undergo strip searches when anything — even a bra clasp — sets off a wand detector.
The reason for these strip searches, according to Florida Department of Corrections officials, is that contraband like cell phones, cigarettes, drugs and weapons has been finding its way into prisons more regularly.
While these searches are distressing for the people who must undergo them, what is even more alarming is an ongoing push by the DOC to limit visitations by family members and loved ones.
Months ago the department announced that it would be cutting back on weekend visits at its facilities. The idea was to limit inmate visits to every other weekend.
After family members rightly expressed their outrage, the DOC said it was dropping its intention to immediately enact the change pending a public hearing. But it hasn't appeared to back away one bit from eventually authorizing the "every other weekend" plan.
This idea is a bad one. And it is dangerous.
Study after study shows that visitation by family members improves inmates' behavior while behind bars. It reduces depression among inmates, particularly female and adolescent prisoners. And it may even increase the chances of released prisoners making successful transitions to life in the community.
In fact, a 2015 report by the Prison Policy Initiative says the positive results of visitation are so numerous that it recommended prison systems across the country enact policies that actively encourage visitation.
It is obvious that if Florida is serious about reducing in-prison violence and cutting repeat offenders, it should be encouraging visitations. Not discouraging them.
But according to the DOC, the increase in contraband and visitor searches has stretched the prison staff so thin that it is no longer practical to oversee visitations every weekend.
It is true that the department has been seriously understaffed for years — but one major reason is because the wages for correctional officers are far too low.
Florida also hasn't done nearly enough to implement smart justice policies that would reduce the prison population, which in turn would help improve the ratio of inmates to officers. Georgia and Texas are among the states that have adopted forward-thinking prison reform legislation that works to protect public safety while also reducing the high cost of maintaining prisons.
Indeed, conservatives and liberals have been able to find common ground in supporting smart justice reforms. Why? Because they save money for the taxpayers. They treat prisoners more humanely. And they do a better job of rehabilitating inmates.
It's time for Florida to put more effort into having a prison system that embraces this progressive approach, rather than one that seemingly revels in having a regressive "degrade and dehumanize" mindset.