Suspended Visitation Privileges at NorthFork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Oklahoma [Archive]

Stefania

07-27-2003, 05:08 AM

In response to your post, I am not in OK, but in Houston and my visitation privliges were revoked. Are you ready for this ... The inmate (John) falsified me on his visitation list as an adopted-sister. He did so because I am the only person he'd have visit and wanted it to be a contact visit. Both of his parents are dead and his sister lives in Florida. However, when he told me he did this, I told him to fix it. My reason for telling him that is because I'm trying to impliment a treatment program (sorry ...too tired to get into it now) and I don't need some buracrat (sp?) digging up dirt on me, that's irrelivant to begin with, causing me problems in my crusade. He wrote me back stating that he wanted to comply to my wishes, but was afraid of what they'd do to him. He wanted my advice as to the best way to go about it. Well... during this corresondence, they read one of my letters and found out that I indeed was not a sister.

We are talking about a person who has been a model inmate. He has a 2 year sentence for crimes he commited in support of his drug addiction; non-violent. Not only did they strip our vistiation, but they fired him from his job (which gave him "good-time" credits) and took our writing privilges away as well. Blown away by the way they handled this, I drove to the unit (almost a 4 hour drive) to speak with the warden. At the end of our meeting, I asked if I could see him for 15-20 minutes - the answer was no! I did nothing wrong, but felt I was being punished. It was unbelievable to say the absolute least.

It has been 2 months since he's had a visit and I so feel for him. Not to mention that they've transfered him all over the place lately (60 miles from my house at that vs. 200), so he's been in lock-down for 3 weeks in a cell with a broken light fixture making it very difficult to write letters. Oh ... they reinstated our writing privileges (oooh - thanks), but not the visitation. I wrote a 2 page letter to the DRB (makes decisions) and from what I've heard ... they'll more than likely deny my appeal. I told the lady at the DRB that John didn't get orientated when he arrived; he didn't know that he could apply for "special-provisions" to get a contact visit. She was like, "That's impossible - everyone gets a handbook." I know that if John knew of the rules, he would have told me his just screwed up and didn't want to chance getting a "no". He wasn't informed, I'm sure of it.

Tonight I researched visitation rights of inmates outside of the TDCJ site. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners prohibits taking away visits as punishment. I need some help here ... John never even got a contact visit to begin with. He will be out in September and I know that is not very far off, but it 's the point that they shouldn't be able to do that. It's like taking the only outlet an inmate has to maintain any sort of sanity and kicking it in there face by taking it away. Not to mention what it's done to me. I love this person.

PLEASE HELP!
Stephanie