ACTION ALERT - AB 2709 in CA Senate Appropriations Next Week!
Bill ensures personal visits are offered to incarcerated persons in CA state prisons in a manner that builds and strengthens family bonds
AB 2709, Building Bridges, Rebuilding Hope: Not Barriers (Visiting Bill), sponsored by Assemblyperson Mia Bonta (D-18), is scheduled to be heard on Monday August 5th in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Felony Murder Elimination Project, as a member of the The Coalition for Family Unity, is asking our supporters and advocates to voice their support for this important legislation.
AB 2709 would ensure that personal visits are offered to individuals incarcerated in California state prisons and their families in a manner that facilitates strengthening and building bonds between incarcerated individuals, their families and their communities. It will restrict institutional barriers that currently interfere with visiting by delineating the circumstances when institutional needs justify limiting or denying visits to an incarcerated person or by a specific visitor. It will also protect women and children from being subjected to unwarranted, unnecessary, invasive and degrading unclothed body searches before being allowed to visit their incarcerated loved ones.
Decades of research demonstrates that strong familial connections reduce recidivism and help incarcerated people thrive once they return to their community. A review of 50 years of empirical studies by the Prison Policy Initiative reported that researchers consistently found that visiting, mail, phone, and other forms of contact between incarcerated people and their families have positive impacts such as reduced recidivism, better health, and improvement in children’s school performance.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation denies personal visits with family or friends as discipline for conduct by an incarcerated person that has nothing to do with visiting or with the prospective visitor. Some visits are denied due to honest mistakes on the visitor’s application or due to a prospective visitor’s criminal history unrelated to any violation of visiting rules.
We humbly ask that our supporters submit a letter of support as soon as possible so it can be presented at the committee hearing on Monday. To obtain a template you can use, please email Sandra Suares at sandra.jessesplace@gmail.com
You can also read more about AB 2709 using the AB 2709 Fact Sheet, and feel free to share this information on your social media channels.
As always, all of us at Felony Murder Elimination Project are grateful for the hard work and advocacy of all our supporters and continue to be in their debt as we all work together toward shared goals of a fairer and just criminal justice system.
