sherri13
07-23-2002, 08:33 AM
Please copy and paste the below letter to a new e-mail and send to
RPMB@executive.corr.ca.gov
AFTER you type in your name and address to the bottom of the letter!:-)
Please show of which group(s) you are a member of as well.
This will give CDC an idea of how many people are organized
and willing to fight for their rights!
This can be send by ANYONE! Not just those in California.
Let's show them that we mean business!!!
My sincere appreciation to everyone helping out on this!
Heidi Jones
<___________COPY STARTS HERE_____________>
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
To:
Rick Grenz, Chief
Department of Corrections
Regulation and Policy Management Branch
P.O. Box 942883
Sacramento, CA 94283-0001
Re: Revised changes to Visiting Regulations dated 7/16/02
We, the families of prisoners in California would like to extent our appreciation for removing the offensive language from the originally proposed changes and hereby request the following additional changes to the revision:
§3170.1. (C) (1)
An inmate shall not be permitted a contact visit with more than five persons, including minors, at the same time.
This should include language, which allows each institution head to approve additional visitors for those families with more than 4 children!
§3175. (e) At the beginning and end of each visit, inmates and their visitors may BRIEFLY embrace and/or kiss.
Please eliminate the word BRIEFLY. This word will definitely be interpreted different by each staff member and invite discrimination. Depending on which persons the visiting staff likes, that could range from a second to an hour! We believe that as responsible adults we all know what this means without the word "brief" being added. Since this regulation only applies to adults, we see no need to expand on this punitive restriction.
§ 3175. (g) Except as provided in this section, no other bodily contact shall be permitted.
Again, this is punitive! Most visiting staff interprets this literally as nothing besides holding hands and terminates visits for the most innocent of actions. We have seen people get terminated for having an arm around the other person's shoulder or waist, regardless of the relationship between inmate and visitor. We have seen inmates drying tears from their visitor's face and get terminated. There has to be a better way to word this!
Most prison visiting rooms will post their own additional rules like: No intertwining of legs, no excessive touching, no sexual contact, etc.
We feel that this section should be reworded or stricken.
§3177. (1) and (2)
Family Visiting should be allowed for all inmates and their families based on individual information, not according to the sentence given, or strictly due to the amount of time being served.
After all, thousands of families had family visiting privileges prior to 1996 without any negative occurrences. Their sentences have NOT CHANGED! Only the political outlook during the Wilson years made this change come about.
Prior to 1996 those visits provided correctional staff with an incentive to give to inmates for following their assigned programs. This is one of the most effective correctional and rehabilitative tools available to CDC!
There should be a cost effective way to adhere to guidelines prescribed by CDC for counselors or classification boards to evaluate the eligibility of each inmate on a person to person basis. The program could be reinstated without additional costs to CDC within one year by utilizing the yearly classification boards. To deprive thousands of families, including children of this much needed, private quality time, is cruel and inhumane! California Families are worth saving!
We request you evaluate the positive influence of family visiting for thousands of inmates against the very few negative ones and we're certain that common sense will prevail. There is only one correct answer. YES!
§3178 entire section
Attorney representatives should not be stricken from this section. Further, FULL TIME EMPLOYEES of attorneys should not be stricken as authorized representative. This entire section should be restored to reflect the willingness of CDC to work with advocates for prisoners, to ensure fair and just treatment for ALL prisoners, not just those with family and friends advocating for them.
After experiencing the inability to get your own Memo's and Regulation changes posted in all institutions, it should be very obvious that many CDC employees are not following the Director's orders and we are in need of continued contact with those inmates most likely affected by discrimination, medical neglect, segregation, and such.
To eliminate full time employees of attorney representatives, which includes most advocacy groups, is giving those employees a free and unchallenged hand at abusing the system.
It also implies that CDC is afraid of discoveries these visitors may make.
CDC should thank them for exposing issues that had been overlooked or neglected before lawsuits are filed, costing the State millions of dollars!
This entire section should not be revised.
Sincerely,
(Your Name and address)
Member of (Your Groups)
RPMB@executive.corr.ca.gov
AFTER you type in your name and address to the bottom of the letter!:-)
Please show of which group(s) you are a member of as well.
This will give CDC an idea of how many people are organized
and willing to fight for their rights!
This can be send by ANYONE! Not just those in California.
Let's show them that we mean business!!!
My sincere appreciation to everyone helping out on this!
Heidi Jones
<___________COPY STARTS HERE_____________>
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
To:
Rick Grenz, Chief
Department of Corrections
Regulation and Policy Management Branch
P.O. Box 942883
Sacramento, CA 94283-0001
Re: Revised changes to Visiting Regulations dated 7/16/02
We, the families of prisoners in California would like to extent our appreciation for removing the offensive language from the originally proposed changes and hereby request the following additional changes to the revision:
§3170.1. (C) (1)
An inmate shall not be permitted a contact visit with more than five persons, including minors, at the same time.
This should include language, which allows each institution head to approve additional visitors for those families with more than 4 children!
§3175. (e) At the beginning and end of each visit, inmates and their visitors may BRIEFLY embrace and/or kiss.
Please eliminate the word BRIEFLY. This word will definitely be interpreted different by each staff member and invite discrimination. Depending on which persons the visiting staff likes, that could range from a second to an hour! We believe that as responsible adults we all know what this means without the word "brief" being added. Since this regulation only applies to adults, we see no need to expand on this punitive restriction.
§ 3175. (g) Except as provided in this section, no other bodily contact shall be permitted.
Again, this is punitive! Most visiting staff interprets this literally as nothing besides holding hands and terminates visits for the most innocent of actions. We have seen people get terminated for having an arm around the other person's shoulder or waist, regardless of the relationship between inmate and visitor. We have seen inmates drying tears from their visitor's face and get terminated. There has to be a better way to word this!
Most prison visiting rooms will post their own additional rules like: No intertwining of legs, no excessive touching, no sexual contact, etc.
We feel that this section should be reworded or stricken.
§3177. (1) and (2)
Family Visiting should be allowed for all inmates and their families based on individual information, not according to the sentence given, or strictly due to the amount of time being served.
After all, thousands of families had family visiting privileges prior to 1996 without any negative occurrences. Their sentences have NOT CHANGED! Only the political outlook during the Wilson years made this change come about.
Prior to 1996 those visits provided correctional staff with an incentive to give to inmates for following their assigned programs. This is one of the most effective correctional and rehabilitative tools available to CDC!
There should be a cost effective way to adhere to guidelines prescribed by CDC for counselors or classification boards to evaluate the eligibility of each inmate on a person to person basis. The program could be reinstated without additional costs to CDC within one year by utilizing the yearly classification boards. To deprive thousands of families, including children of this much needed, private quality time, is cruel and inhumane! California Families are worth saving!
We request you evaluate the positive influence of family visiting for thousands of inmates against the very few negative ones and we're certain that common sense will prevail. There is only one correct answer. YES!
§3178 entire section
Attorney representatives should not be stricken from this section. Further, FULL TIME EMPLOYEES of attorneys should not be stricken as authorized representative. This entire section should be restored to reflect the willingness of CDC to work with advocates for prisoners, to ensure fair and just treatment for ALL prisoners, not just those with family and friends advocating for them.
After experiencing the inability to get your own Memo's and Regulation changes posted in all institutions, it should be very obvious that many CDC employees are not following the Director's orders and we are in need of continued contact with those inmates most likely affected by discrimination, medical neglect, segregation, and such.
To eliminate full time employees of attorney representatives, which includes most advocacy groups, is giving those employees a free and unchallenged hand at abusing the system.
It also implies that CDC is afraid of discoveries these visitors may make.
CDC should thank them for exposing issues that had been overlooked or neglected before lawsuits are filed, costing the State millions of dollars!
This entire section should not be revised.
Sincerely,
(Your Name and address)
Member of (Your Groups)