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| Civil Liberties Union says scanners deterring prison visits |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/12/2004 |
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New scanners designed to detect if visitors are trying to smuggle drugs or other contraband into state prisons are unfairly keeping some prisoners' relatives from seeing inmates, the New York Civil Liberties Union contended last Wednesday. The ion scanners, introduced last fall, are now used in 15 state prisons. The NYCLU called on the state Department of Correctional Services to stop using them while it works out new procedures for when the devices indicate a positive reading - meaning that people have had contact with illegal drugs or explosives, though they don't necessarily have them in their possession. The Civil Liberties Union said it has received numerous complaints from people who've incorrectly tested positive, and then could not convince officers to search them to prove they did not have contraband on them. "Ion scanners are not valid as the sole basis for excluding a prison visitor because the devices can determine neither drug use nor possession," NYCLU lawyers said in a letter to state Corrections Commissioner Glenn Goord. "Rather, such devices might be useful as the beginning of a chain of information-gathering leading to finding contraband and denying visitation or not finding contraband and permitting visitation." A state prison spokesman said there has been a dramatic decline in inmates testing positive for illegal drugs at the 15 prisons where the ion scanners are in use and that the state intends to continue the screening process. Under current state procedures, people who test positive for drugs or explosives with the ion equipment are scanned a second time. If that second test is also positive, they are denied entry into prison to see inmates. The NYCLU said it is a hardship for people who have to travel long ways to see inmates - typically, from the New York City area to upstate prisons - only to be turned away on the basis of a possibly faulty test. |
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