She has worked in a prison and witnessed first hand many of the issues at hand.  She has a loved one in prison and has been visiting at California prisons for almost 10 years.  She has recently filed a legal challenge on the UNION's behalf to the vendor package program and is in the process of filing a writ challenging the new visiting restrictions. 

I think everyone here is aware of the huge price paid by inmate families.  We pay to visit by having to drive hundreds of miles, we pay to eat while we visit and, boy, do we pay! We pay hundreds of dollars for junk food costing half as much outside.  We pay in loss of dignity by being treated like cattle and slime by the guards at the visits, too.  We pay just to talk to our loved ones on the phone at outrageous rates----------at least double what others pay for collect calls---------.  We pay, and pay, and pay!

But now when we want to send our loved ones some food or clothes to keep them healthy and warm, we must pay a vendor selected by the CDC who also charges us twice what we pay at our own stores.  They choose the brands, the selection, and we pay to send out hard-earned money out of state and in the back pockets of the CDC.  We pay, and pay, and continue to pay!

The other problem is the greed of the CDC. To force money to be sent into the inmates accounts that can only be used in the canteen via a mystery fund called "Inmate Welfare", or through outside stores which have a conflict of interest because the ownership is associated with the CCPOA can only be called greed. Prices are already outrageous in the canteen and visiting rooms. Just increasing the number of items without competition is unfair to families struggling to make ends meet. 

And now with more than half of what they send proposed to be "seized" for restitution, this program diminishes families' ability to help their loved ones. 

Be mindful that increases in "restitution" to 55% by 2007 of what families send to their loved ones is already being seized in another money grab.  If inmates only earn $15 a month-if they're lucky-where does the money come from that is being seized?  That's right!  From inmate families!  We pay and pay and pay!

To add insult to injury, the CDC proposes to charge inmates a 10 percent service charge to cover institution cost when inmates use their own funds to purchase packages and personal property necessary since the CDC does not supply many needed items.  The CDC has forced this change and wants the inmates to bear an additional cost.  This is outrageous and contemptible.  In essence, the CDC wants inmates to pay an additional 10 percent to use their own money.  But remember-whose money is this really?  That's right!  Yours, mine, all of ours!  We send in the majority of money that inmates use to make these purchases and now not only will they take 55% for restitution, they will take another 10% as a service charge!  This is outrageous.  We must let the lawmakers and the public know about this scandalous money-grab paid for by the families of inmates.------------Families who are themselves victims of crime burdened with legal costs, carrying for grandchildren and children of inmates.---------------------

Those inmates without family members to send them packages or money are underfed and hungry. Does this unwise move really save money?  No, it results in angry prisoners most of whom are already extremely ill from diseases they've caught while in prison. And it just costs families more money!  Why are we always targeted for money-grabs by the CDC? We pay and pay and pay!

Please show up for the hearing on this outrageous restitution plan on September 16.  It will be a hearing just like the one you've attended today.  But if you don't show up-every time you send your loved one some money-the CDC will take 55% of it.  That means if you send in $20, your loved one will receive only $9, which might buy one jar of coffee!  One jar of coffee will cost YOU $20!  How much "restitution" is actually being collected strictly from the inmate's earnings?  If they earn $15 per month and they have $10,000 due in restitution like my husband then it would take him 667 months or 55 years to pay off this debt.  So who is really paying these restitution amounts-WE ARE!  We will pay, and pay, and pay.

The extremely remote location of the prisons results in only a small percentage of inmates getting visits. The poverty level of many families further reduces ability to visit. Isolating the inmate further serves what purpose? Doesn't the "Correction" part of the Department of Corrections mean anything? Don't you want inmates to come back into society with some ability to adjust? 

To make matters worse, the CDC has implemented new visiting rules that make many inmates unable to visit with their minor children.  These restrictions can be imposed by just having been accused of certain crimes.  That's right!  You do not even have to be convicted to be barred from visiting with your own children.  The decision to impose this visiting restriction is being implemented as a "blanket" rule in all 33 prisons and without looking at the particular circumstances of individuals.  The memo put out by the assistant director of the CDC last summer instructed staff to ban the visits-period.  The CDC, in turn, has instructed family members and inmates to appeal the decision but the appeals are then denied without explanation and without adhering to any time deadlines set by the Title 15. 

Not to mention that the new rules require a juvenile court order even if the juvenile court does not have jurisdiction over that child.  The juvenile court won't hear cases over which they don't have jurisdiction--leaving the inmate with no recourse even if they have obtained an order in the Family Law court.  Has anyone in the CDC realized the impact of these new rules on the children of these inmates?  Many, many of these children have been visiting their mothers and fathers for years-no problems-and now they are being told they cannot see their moms and dads at all anymore.

IN PENAL CODE §6350, THE LEGISLATURE PROVIDED THAT THE CDC IS TO MAKE ALL REASONABLE EFFORTS TO PROMOTE VISITS TO PRISONERS SO AS TO MAINTAIN AN INMATE'S FAMILY AND COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS.

By applying a blanket policy to all inmates with certain offenses, the CDC has not made all reasonable effort to maintain the familial relationships between prisoners and their children.  Each prisoner's situation should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine whether a danger to the minor exists. 

Let's not forget that  a law canceling all visits was passed in 1996 - not just family visits but all visits and at any time they could invoke that outrageous restriction to all of us.  You heard correctly-at any time, the CDC could elect to cancel all of our visits all together!  Most people don't realize this fact-but it's true. 

We already endure unspeakable conditions just to visit.  We are strip searched at random and asked to reveal parts of our body in ways our doctors don't even ask us to do.  We are denied bathroom use and forced to sleep in our cars in freezing weather only to be treated like the scum of the earth by the guards with little more than a GED education.  We are herded, prodded, and corralled liked cattle. We are insulted, lied to, and cheated.  We stand in lines in the blazing sun and sleeting rain.  We are chastised like children and punished by having our visits terminated.  We are turned away from visits after driving hundred of miles so guards can have a lazy day at the expense of the state.  The list of insults to visitors and the intolerable conditions they must endure just to visit just goes on and on and on.

Let's not forget that no matter which prison we visit at, we are limited to shorter visits because counts are done in the middle of visiting hours, and because even though visiting is supposed to begin at 8:30, the guards don't start processing visitors until 8:30 which means we don't see our loved ones until they lazily decide to go get them from the gate.  While we are supposed to be able to visit for 6 and ½ hours, we are lucky to visit for 5-that's if our visit isn't terminated early due to overcrowding.

So if we let them get away with this arbitrary and hurtful restriction to children's visiting-there is no end to the restrictions they will place on all of us!  Somehow, we let family visiting slip out of our hands-we must not let them take away any more visiting privileges.  Not one more!  If we let them get away with this-they will keep taking and taking and taking!

It is time for us all to speak up!  We must speak up loud and clear!  We have to let everyone know we will not be taken advantage of any longer.  They might hear us right today, but they will only pay attention when we organize and join together.  They will have to pay attention when we file lawsuits and when we alert the press to their corruption.  When we can finally put aside our differences and join together in solidarity and demand change.  Make no mistake-we will keep paying, and paying, and paying-even with the deaths of our loved ones-until we say no more and take action.  Start today.  Make a commitment to make your voice heard.