DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION SEEKS DRASTIC CUTS IN JAIL VISITING AND INMATE RECREATION
The New York City Department of Correction has proposed two variances to the Board of Corrections' Minimum Standards that would have a devastating impact on New York City jails, prisoners and families. Click here to see the notice of these proposed variances (and other information provided by the Board) at http://www.nyc.gov/html/boc/html/home/home.shtml. Click here to go directly to the Department's request.
THE BOARD OF CORRECTION WILL BE HOLDING A SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING TO DELIBERATE ON THESE PROPOSALS AT 9 A.M. ON THURSDAY JUNE 18, 2009. The Board will be considering testimony that was presented at the public hearing on June 5. The meeting will be held in the Board's conference room at 51 Chambers Street, Room 929C, near City Hall. Click here for a map of the meeting location.The Department proposes to:
(1) Limit the jail visiting schedule to four days per week, rather than the five days that is required by the Board standards. Inmates would still be permitted three visits a week, they would just be crowded into 20% less time.
Impact: Visiting hours are already crowded as it is, the facilities for visitors are already overtaxed, and the lines to get through security screening are already quite long. A recent New York Times article highlighted the fact that visitors' locker space is exceedingly limited, forcing people to pay self-employed property minders to hold their belongings. Since many visitors may not have flexible work schedules, this schedule reduction may further reduce the likelihood of visits for any given prisoner by important family members or friends. This should be of concern to anyone, but might be of particular concern to young people, people with children, fragile or disabled people.
(2) Limit the inmate recreation schedule to five days per week, rather than meeting the Board standard of seven days per week. Inmates would be allowed 1.5 hours a day under the five-day schedule, providing them with an additional half hour of recreation a week. "Adolescents" (i.e. only inmates who are 16, 17, and 18 years old) would be exempted from this reduction.
Impact: Activity is already at a minimum on weekends and omitting one of the few remaining activities that permits inmates to leave their cells and gives them something to do is a bad idea. Tacking an additional half hour on to recreation periods five days a week is probably unworkable because of the limited number of periods that can be squeezed in during daylight hours. Prisoners have already complained of being called for recreation as early as 5:00 a.m. Although "adolescents" would continue to have seven days of recreation, that means only the small fraction of inmates who are 16, 17, or 18 years old. Prisoners who are 19 or in their early 20s would be subjected to forced inactivity on the weekends. Idleness is generally believed to be one of the major causes of violence in jails.
The only reason offered for these variances is saving money. Commissioner Horn told the Board at a recent meeting that anyone who opposes these measures should tell the department where else to save $8 million.