Response to Recent DOCCS Proposal to Re-Open Visits
July 27, 2020
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo
State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
Acting Commissioner Anthony Annucci
Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
1220 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12226
Re: Response to Recent DOCCS Proposal to Re-Open Visits
To New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and Acting Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Anthony Annucci:
On March 14, 2020, in response to the rising global pandemic, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) banned social visits in all 52 prisons across the state. Four months later, as the statewide infection rate has slowed, DOCCS issued a proposal for re-opening visits.
We write to you as the family members of people in prison and representatives from dozens of advocacy organizations in New York State to convey our staunch opposition to this plan.
We have not seen our incarcerated loved ones in over 100 days. We’ve spent the last four months worrying about their safety, their health, and emotional well-being. Do they have enough food to eat? Do they have soap and water to wash their hands? What will happen if they get sick? Will anyone call me if they die? The only information and news we’ve heard has been through 15-minute phone calls, hand-written letters, and monitored electronic messages. The stress has been unbearable and we need to see our loved ones now.
While we are clear in our need for an immediate restoration of visits, the current proposal put forward by DOCCS is punitive in nature, insults our intelligence and capabilities, further dehumanizes us and our family members in prison, and does nothing to actually protect the health and safety of our incarcerated loved ones and their visitors. This proposal is also emblematic of the racist and oppressive history of family separation that defines DOCCS and the entire criminal legal system.
The proposal requires families to pre-register for visits, a practice that has never been part of the visiting process and is wholly irrelevant to public health. The proposal also limits visits to two hours. Many of us travel six hours or more to reach a prison, sometimes sleeping in a motel the night before a visit so as not to sacrifice the little time we have. DOCCS must reinstate and expand visits to seven days a week at every prison (not just maximum-security facilities) and allow visits to last at least eight hours or more.
DOCCS has also deemed all visits non-contact visits. While we recognize the current risks associated with physical contact because of Covid-19, we believe the innumerable benefits of such physical contact with proper protection is necessary and beneficial. As human beings, we all require touch and physical affection to survive. Touch can also improve one’s immune system, decrease blood pressure and heart rate, and even reduce one’s likelihood of falling ill and contracting the virus. We demand physical contact visits be reinstated immediately. We will wear masks throughout every visit, and we will wash our hands, just as the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control have recommended.
In addition to the punitive nature of this reopening plan, there is no explicit timeline for when these measures will be enacted and when previous visiting procedures will be restored. We are deeply troubled that DOCCS is using a global pandemic as cover for making harmful and long-term changes to visits. We insist that any restrictions that are implemented are temporary and that a strict timetable is set for their reversal.
It is clear from their proposal that DOCCS sees family members of incarcerated people as incapable of adequately protecting themselves and their loved ones from sickness. However, we have a full understanding of the risks associated with physical contact and in-person visits. We believe there is a way to both ensure the health and wellness of our family members in prison while also protecting the sacred experience of seeing those we love.
Any procedures that are implemented must be temporary, short-lived, enacted with a clear public health purpose, and weighed against the importance of contact and connection. All policies should be rooted in principles of reuniting families and soothing the stress associated with the current pandemic. These policies should not be punitive in nature or underestimate the ability of families to determine what is safest and best for themselves.
Our Demands
Remove all pre-registration requirements for visits
Requiring family members to register for visits in advance is burdensome and discourages visits.
Pre-registration requirements do not further any public health objectives.
If the purpose of pre-registration is to prevent overcrowding in the visit rooms, expanding visitation days and hours, and utilizing alternative spaces such as gyms and outside areas for visits will remedy this issue.
Expand Visit Hours and Remove Visit-Length Restrictions
The proposed two-hour limit on visits is unacceptable. Family members and loved ones often drive many hours to visit loved ones.
Visit hours should be extended to seven days a week in all prisons (not just maximum-security facilities) and should last eight hours or more to accommodate families.
Where possible, facilities should utilize alternative spaces including outdoor areas, gyms, and houses of worship, etc. to ensure all those who wish to visit are able to.
DOCCS must disinfect all visit areas, including tables and chairs, at the start and end of every visit.
Hand sanitizer and masks must be available to all visitors, and visitors must also be permitted to bring their own hand sanitizer and masks.
Remove New Restrictions on the Number of Visitors
The current proposal to limit visits to two visitors is inhumane and forces families to make difficult choices about who can visit and when.
DOCCS must restore its original policy and allow three visitors and their children to visit at a time, with additional accommodations for larger families.
All Visits Must Be Contact Visits
We understand concerns associated with the spread of COVID-19 but hugging our loved ones is necessary for our mental, physical and emotional well-being.
DOCCS must not build any partitions or physical barriers in the visit room to enforce social distancing. Visitors will sit six feet apart and wear masks during the entire visit.
All restoration of contact visits must be permanent.
Set Clear Timelines for the Implementation and Revocation of Temporary Procedures
Any adjustments made to visit procedures that create additional burdens on family members or reduce physical contact must have a clear start and end date.
All new procedures must be considered temporary.
Restore the Family Reunion Program (FRP) Immediately
DOCCS must create an effective, dignified and purely public health-oriented system for restoring FRP immediately.
Provide Free Transportation for Prison Visits
New York State must provide free transportation to and from prisons across New York State so family members and loved ones can conduct visits.
Ensuring that family members and loved ones are not traveling long distances, in crowded settings, is beneficial to public safety and reduces the risk of transmission to incarcerated individuals.
Relocate and Transfer Incarcerated People to Facilities Closer to Their Families
DOCCS must devise a system for voluntary prison transfers that prioritizes proximity to loved ones and family members. Age, medical conditions, and facility programs must be considered.
Provide Video Calls While Continuing In-Person Visits
DOCCS must expand access to free video calls, but under no circumstances use video calls as a replacement for in-person, contact visits, or any other kind of communication.
Any addition of video calls must be accompanied by a written directive specifying that they are not to replace in-person, contact visits.
Expand Other Communication and Correspondence
Many essential items are out of stock in the commissaries. DOCCS must remove all weight limitations on monthly packages to ensure people in prison can access the goods they need.
DOCCS must permit incarcerated people to receive unlimited packages of personal protective equipment such as masks.
DOCCS must allow individuals held in solitary confinement or keeplock, or individuals with other package restrictions and limitations, to be able to receive monthly packages that contain hygiene products and personal protective equipment (soap, shampoo, masks, etc.).
Install additional phones inside all prisons and make all phone calls free. DOCCS must also explore other solutions to provide unlimited phone calls to incarcerated people, whether through personal tablets or other mediums.
All other forms of communication, including letters and emails, must be free.
Include Family Members and Loved Ones of People in Prison in the Decision-Making Process
DOCCS must include family members and others directly impacted by incarceration in the conversations and decision-making process regarding visitations. Our families are the experts, and we know how to keep our families safe.
Sincerely,
Advocates for the Incarcerated
Fordham Law School's Criminal Defense Clinic
Free Them All 4 Public Health
Beacon Prison Action
Beacon Prison Rides
Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration
Center for Appellate Litigation
Center for Community Alternatives
Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at NYU Law
Certain Days Collective
Citizen Action of New York
Correctional Association of New York
Crime Victims Treatment Center
CUNY School of Law Defenders Clinic
It Takes a Village Action Organization
Legal Aid Society
NAMI Huntington
New Hour for Women and Children LI
New York County Defender Services
New York State Prisoner Justice Network
NYC Jericho Movement
Parole Preparation Project
Prisoners Are People Too
Release Aging People in Prison Campaign
Riverside Church Prison Ministry
Showing Up for Racial Justice Buffalo
Showing Up for Racial Justice NYC
Turning Points Resource Center
VOICE Buffalo
Worth Rises
Survived and Punished New York