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| Calif. to reduce inmate visiting days to two a week |
| By The Press-Enterprise |
| Published: 12/31/2003 |
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Visiting days at all California prisons will be limited to two days a week starting Thursday, a move prison advocates and inmates say is unfair and will lead to more violence behind bars. The change cuts in half the number of visiting days at some Inland area prisons. Officials at the California Department of Corrections said the measure could save millions of dollars each year. It is one of a number of policy changes taking effect Jan. 1 designed to lead to an eventual decline in the inmate population. Cutting visiting days to two means correctional officers can be reassigned to different areas of the prisons instead of keeping watch during visiting hours, said corrections spokesman Russ Heimerich. The state Department of Corrections expects to save $5.6 million this fiscal year and another $11.1 million in the next fiscal year by reducing the number of visiting days. Until now, California had been a leading state in allowing a high number of visiting days, according to the Family and Corrections Network based in Virginia. Many prison advocates and attorneys say it doesn't make sense to limit visits from family. Studies by organizations like the Family and Corrections Network show that inmates who do not receive any visits are six times more likely to return to prison in their first year of parole than those who receive at least three regular visitors. The first question inmates are asked by the Board of Prison Terms when they have a parole hearing is what their contact and support is like with those in the free world, said Charles Carbone, an attorney with California Prison Focus in San Francisco. Without visiting days, he said, it will be impossible for inmates to answer that question. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Margot Bach said her agency is aware of statistics that show visiting helps inmates adjust when they are paroled, but cuts must be made to the budget. California spent more than $250 million last year on overtime costs for correctional officers alone, she added. Bach also said that not every prison will be affected by the change in visiting days. Some of California's 32 prisons already limit visiting to two days per week. Others have four days of visiting per week. |
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