Abstract
American correctional facilities are banning in-person visitation in lieu of privately provided and expensive video visitation services. This Note discusses the types of private services provided; how video visitation negatively affects inmates’ mental health and finances; and the ongoing legal battle occurring in Knox County, Tennessee, regarding whether the Knox County Jail’s ban on in-person visitation violates the Constitution. Because of the significant degree of deference courts grant correctional facilities when considering whether challenged regulations violate the Constitution, it will be difficult for the Knox County Jail inmates to successfully argue that the jail has violated their constitutional rights. There are, however, other methods to challenging bans on in-person visitation. Through political advocacy, individuals and organizations have successfully motivated counties throughout the United States to overturn and prohibit bans on in-person visitation. Going forward, political advocacy seems like the best method for challenging these bans.
Recommended Citation
J. Tanner Lusk,
Isolation for Profit: How Privately Provided Video Visitation Services Incentivize Bans on In-Person Visitation Within American Correctional Facilities,
26 Wash. & Lee J. Civ. Rts. & Soc. Just. 339
(2019).
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/crsj/vol26/iss1/9
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