Coordinator of the Innocence Project of Florida, Adina Thompson, says that “digitized prison mail is a ‘class disadvantage’ for people who cannot buy tablets in prison.” Moreover, waiting in line at kiosks to read their mail will be an undue burden. Many incarcerated people cannot afford tablets. He believes that this new rule has the same effect. This states that a proposed rule for prisons must not be “arbitrary or irrational”. For example, Attorney Raymond Denecke of the federal public defender’s office for the Northern Florida District quoted the U.S. Furthermore, some argue that it is unconstitutionally arbitrary. Starla Brown, the director for Americans for Prosperity said the following at the hearing: “While we understand the concerns of the DOC we hope you will not overlook the of receiving mail in its original form.” Image courtesy of Motortion via Getty Images Concerns come with electronic mail in prison.ĭigitizing prison mail might pose privacy concerns for incarcerated persons. The new rule will affect those efforts, too. Many public defenders, churches and priests send pamphlets and packages relating to rehabilitation and spiritual programs for incarcerated people. His seven-year daughter writes letters, draws pictures and even sprays her perfume on the paper.Īdvocates of criminal justice also opposed this rule at the June 11 hearing.
Lesmes Caseres, an incarcerated person in a Florida DOC facility said that the mail from his family has “really gotten him through his sentence.” His mother sends him pictures of every renovation at their house. Their children invite them into their lives every day through the letters, and remind them of their love through theirs.” Children’s lives “become tangible” through letter mail, he said. During an online public hearing, speaker George Lambert told Camford that “They are able to touch, hug, kiss and cry through letters. With the introduction of electronic mail, incarcerated people will not be able to touch the handwritten letters, photos and handmade drawings. Losing tangibility will affect the incarcerated person, families and public defenders. These include “dangerous chemicals” soaked in paper, “sharp instruments” and “deadly narcotics such as fentanyl,” he said. As per Comerford, Florida prisons have “experienced over 35,000 items of contraband discovered in routine mail” from Jan. However, the cost to print the electronic mail will be 25 cents a page for black and white and $1 a page for colored copies.Īmoung other concerns, increased entry of contraband and dangerous drugs into the prison led to the change. The electronic copy is available on tablets and kiosk services. A third-party vendor will be assigned the responsibility of scanning the mail and saving them to cloud storage. However, this new rule will not affect privileged legal mail. Richard Comerford, Assistant Deputy Secretary of Institutions with DOC, recently originated the proposed rule to scan all the incoming and outgoing physical mail and create electronic copies or printouts. The new rule will replace physical mail with a digitized version. Many criminal justice advocates and families of incarcerated people are against this rule. Printouts are also available at a certain price. Then, electronic copies of the mail will be accessible via tablets or kiosks. After its implementation, personal mail will be scanned. Under a new rule, Florida DOC plans to digitize personal mail, purportedly due to security reasons.
However, this will no longer be the case in Florida prisons. Some eagerly wait for physical mail from their loved ones to be able to feel their presence. For a large number of incarcerated people, letters and greeting cards provide a sense of comfort and motivation in prison.
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