Don’t cut off incarcerated people in Florida from their loved ones by going digital | Opinion
Last fall, incarcerated writers nationwide were asked to pen essays about their experience with COVID-19 for a project initiated by the Miami-based nonprofit Exchange for Change (E4C). The anthology was intended for writers in prison to change the narrative put forth by correctional facilities across the country regarding how they handled the pandemic.
E4C received almost 200 submissions through the mail from contributors from South Florida to Alaska. “Hear Us: Writing from the Inside During the Time of COVID” will be released this month.
For a book publication, that’s a remarkably quick turnaround. We depended on timely exchanges with our incarcerated contributors via mail. But if the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) goes through with a proposed rule change, projects such as this will become exponentially more difficult to execute. The FDC proposal, which doesn’t need legislative approval if its claimed budget impact for Year One is under $200,000, would digitize all incoming mail (excluding legal mail).
Digitization will be neither timely nor reliable. I know, because E4C, which I direct, depended on tablets extensively when the pandemic began. (Like visitation, in-person educational programs were shut down.) Tablets malfunction. They break. To send or receive mail they must be connected to kiosks, which often have faulty or missing chargers, or are inaccessible depending on quarantines or lockdowns.
Under the proposed rule, incarcerated individuals will only be able to receive digitized versions of the hand-written letters and drawings sent to them. Stamps and envelopes will no longer be allowed. To print a copy, they have to pay: 25 cents for a black-and-white copy, $1 for color. Meanwhile, the original would be destroyed.
Think about that for a second. Personal possessions are a commodity in prison. It’s dehumanizing, demoralizing and downright insulting that we would further isolate a person in prison by removing something tangible that they can hold during the interminably long stretches between visitation (where only one hug and one kiss are allowed).
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is running a pilot digitization program to “cut down on contraband.” Seven states have implemented some form of this in their prisons or jails. There are no statistics available that prove its effectiveness, though numerous studies show the vast majority of contraband comes through prison staff.
A call to the office of FDC counsel Jason Holman’s office was unproductive. Upon questioning what a June 11 public hearing scheduled for the following day could do to reverse the impending rule change, a state employee scolded me, told me that my questions about procedure were improper, that he was not my legal counsel and that he was going to hang up on me — which he did.
At this GoToWebinar hearing, hordes of mothers, wives and other family members begged the FDC to not sever this “lifeline.” With in-person visits limited or just not possible because of distance — and phone calls a financial burden — mail is often their only option. All the callers used their two minutes to denounce digitization as unconscionable, nonsensical and inhumane. Not a single person spoke in favor of the change.
But even the hard-hearted may respond when rule change hits their pocketbooks. According to E4C board member Robert Hill, who has an extensive background in finance and technology, “There is no conceivable way that the Year One manpower and administration costs of a digital transformation initiative affecting a system of at least 79,000 persons will be less than $200,000, and it is prima facie absurd to claim otherwise.”
In December, Hill and his children participated in an E4C holiday card project. “It was immensely touching for my kids to write simple holiday cards and hear responses like the one from a man who had never received a Christmas card in the 24 years he’s been locked up in Florida.”
I suspect that person still has his card. I suspect he cherishes it like we cherish family photos, handcrafted cards and drawings. We put them on our walls; incarcerated people put them under their pillows to stay close to the sender. There is still time to challenge this impending rule change. Write your representatives in the Florida Legislature. Email Jason.Holman@fdc.myflorida.com and let him know your thoughts. Let the FDC hear you loud and strong, this rule change should not be implemented.
People incarcerated in Florida’s prisons want to be written to, not written off.
Kathie Klarreich is founder and executive director of Exchange for Change.