The State of Maine Department of Corrections' standards for county jails require that prisoners have the opportunity to have contact visits with family and loved ones--an opportunity to look at a child's face or hold a parent's hand. There are a number of reasons for this policy: human contact is a basic human right, and encouraging prisoners to maintain ties to family reduces the likelihood that they will re-offend. The standard does more than simply protect prisoners--it protects all of us who want to live in a world with less crime. Video conferencing can be great, but it is no substitute for real human contact.
York County Jail has asked for an exemption to this standard, so that they can eliminate in-contact visits. We believe that this would be a step backwards in the development of sane thoughtful criminal justice policies, and today I sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Corrections urging him to deny the request. You can read a story about this issue in the York Journal Tribune here, and you can also listen to a Maine public radio story about it here.