After much protest against proposed changes to inmate visitation rules that would limit prisoners' contact with family members, the California Department of Corrections issued revised restrictions revoking those restrictions but adding in new limitations on prisoners contact with legal aid workers. The new regulations limit attorney-client privilege, baring law students and legal aid workers who are not lawyers from visitation under this privilege. For prisoners without money (most prisoners), volunteer legal help from law students and legal aid workers is essential to maintain their access to the courts. The fight against repressive and inhuman conditions in the prisons relies on this legal access.
ACT NOW: protest the new proposed regulations
Demand that the CDC allow prisoners their constitutionally guaranteed rights to legal representation. Demand that they remove all new wording of Section 3178 "Attorney Visitations and Consultations" of the proposed changes to Title 15. Demand that a public hearing take place on these new regulations.
Protest to:
Rick Grenz, Chief Department of Corrections Regulation and Policy Management Branch
P.O. Box 942883
Sacramento, CA 94283-0001
E-Mail: RPBM@executive.corr.ca.gov
Fax : (916)322-3842
Phone: (916) 322-9702; (916) 324-4331
PETITION TEXT: COPY, PRINT, GET SIGNATURES, AND SEND in by August 9
Oppose Restrictions on Prison Visitation The Department of Corrections is proposing changes to the visiting rules in California. These changes will make it very difficult for prisoners to receive legal aid. The new regulations limit attorney-client privilege, baring law students and legal aid workers who are not lawyers from visitation. For prisoners without money, volunteer legal help from law students and legal aid workers is essential to maintain their access to the courts. This policy will effectively bar nonprofit organizations from representing prisoners. In addition, the fight against repressive and inhuman conditions in the prisons relies on this legal access.
We the undersigned demand that the CDC:
The rewrite of California DOC visitation policies began in March. MIM issued a petition which we have filled with hundreds of signatures (all sent to the California DOC) since then. The proposed changes in the Department of Corrections visiting rules made it very difficult for people to visit their relatives and friends in prison, cutting off visitation entirely for inmates with more severe sentences. The proposed rules did nothing more than expand the oppression of prisoners while actually increasing recidivism. The rules would have required preteens to undergo federal background checks before visiting their parents in prison; required all inmate visitors, including minors, to provide a completed CDC Form 106 and obtain institution/facility approval before being permitted to visit an inmate; required minors over the age of 7 to present picture proof of identity before being permitted to visit (only legal Id's, as with adult visitors); and cut off family visits for higher custody and life sentence inmates, those in segregation or secure housing units, or who have been found guilty of violating certain regulations. These restrictions were clearly counter to any notion of rehabilitation as studies have shown that regular visits reduce recidivism among prisoners.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the DOC received more than 2000 letters of protest in response to these new regulations. Most of the visitation limiting changes were removed in the second draft of the visitation proposals released in mid-July. But they were replaced by equally egregious changes which will limit prisoners access to legal help. These regulations particularly target prisoner-advocacy organizations. Organizations and individuals who work on prisoners appeals and prisoner rights cases, such as fighting abuse in prisons, rely on law students and legal aids. Even full time employees of attorneys and students who have been certified by the State Bar of California to do legal work will be denied access to prisoners to discuss legal issues without an attorney present. Those who can not afford lawyers rely on these services.
Comments from the public can be submitted until August 9 after which the DOC will submit a final version of the proposed regulations. There will be no public hearing on these new proposed regulations.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, said he was concerned about the proposals and was looking into them. Burton, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, approved the confirmation of Edward Alameida as director of the Corrections Department in May after Alameida promised to scale back the first proposed rule changes. 'Why do they keep screwing around with these things?' Burton said."
The Department of Corrections works as a part of the Criminal Injustice System as a whole. Prisons in this country are used as a tool of social control. Building more prisons, restricting prisoners legal access so that they are locked up longer and can not appeal their sentences, and limiting prisoners ability to fight the daily repression they face behind bars, is a part of the system. We should not be surprised by the new proposed regulations in California. But it is clear that public protest can affect these regulations. We successfully removed the family visitation restrictions, now we need to voice our outrage at the proposed limitations on prisoners access to legal help.
For more information on the conditions prisoners face, including lack of medical care, physical abuse by guards, lack of educational materials, restricted access to legal research, censorship of mail, and much more, check out the Under Lock and Key section of MIM Notes (the newspaper of the Maoist Internationalist Movement). Back issues can be found here: http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/mn/index.html.
Notes: SF Chronicle, July 25, 2002