Research has shown that there are just a few jurisdictions within the United States that permit conjugal visits for the incarcerated. Among those that do, evidence suggests that conjugal visits give the incarcerated an opportunity to keep their families together. Additional evidence shows that those who maintain family ties while incarcerated are less likely to recidivate when released. Moreover, conjugal visits make it easier for correctional staff to manage program participants during their sentences. As one of the tools that facilitates community reintegration - ostensibly the goal of incarceration %u2013 rather than abandon this program as is now being proposed by New State Senator Michael Nozzolio (see New York State Senate, S3747 http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S3747-2011), it should be used on a wider scale.
The effort to terminate the family reunion program is yet another sign of conservative efforts to abandon the rehabilitative ideals related to the treatment of those in prison and also to lessen the likelihood of successful community reintegration. In the age where family values have been inserted into political conversations, it remains shocking that the families of the most vulnerable are not valued. These efforts must not go uncontested.
As Chair of the Crime and Corrections Committee in the New York State Assembly, I, along with my colleagues call upon you to block introduction into the assemble any version of New York State Senate Bill, S3747, that requires the commissioner of correctional services to permanently terminate the conjugal visit program, commonly known as the family reunion program, or that further directs the commissioner to prohibit the establishment of any program designed to provide selected inmates and their families the opportunity to privately meet for an extended period of time. This effort is simply outrageous.
Respectfully,
Mika%u2019il DeVeaux, MPS, MA, CAMF
Executive Director, Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc.
