Conjugal visits, also known as private family visits or extended family visits, are scheduled during a certain period where inmates are allowed to spend time with their spouse in a private room. These aim to preserve family bonds and also serve as an incentive for inmates to comply with various regulations and rules in prison.
If the Federal Bureau of Prisons does not permit conjugal visits, some states in the United States still enforce them, regardless of the controversy that arises. You may wonder what states implement conjugal visits. Okay, let’s dive into our post to find information about it!
What States in the United States That Permit Conjugal Visits?
Currently, there are only four states in the United States that allow conjugal visits, including:
1. California
There is no doubt that California is well-known for having one of the most well-established conjugal visit programs. The program allows inmates who are eligible to have private visits with their spouses or legal partners.
2. New York
In April 2011, New York also established the Family Reunion Program, which adopted legislation to permit conjugal visits. This program permits eligible inmates to have private visits with their spouses in the designated facility.
4. Connecticut
Conjugal visits are also allowed in Connecticut, where married inmates or those who are in civil unions or domestic partnerships get privileges to have private visits. However, some argue that Connecticut’s Extended Family Visit (EFV) program, which is not applied, does not really count since it requires an inmate’s child to be there along with another adult.
5. Washington
Last but not least, Washington State also allows inmates who are eligible to have private visits with their spouses or registered domestic partners in the designated room.
Fact: In the 1950s, Parchman Farm, a maximum-security prison in Mississippi, applied conjugal visits, but they ended in 2014 due to some reasons.
How Do States Conduct Conjugal Visits?
Even though conjugal visits are implemented in some states, the availability and specific rules and regulations regarding conjugal visits may vary widely among them.
To be eligible for conjugal visits, inmates should meet certain requirements. They may be required to undergo a background check, and they should be free of any sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea, sifilis, etc.
As per procedure, both inmates and visitors will be searched before and after the visit. It aims to prevent any illegal activities from occurring, including the smuggling of contraband items such as communication devices, drugs, alcohol, and other prison-prohibited items.
How is Conjugal Visit Applied in California?
As we’ve mentioned earlier, California is known as the state that implements the best conjugal visit program in many aspects. Over the last 40 years, California has built a number of new prisons featuring special facilities that are designated for conjugal visits.
According to Jorja Leap (a professor of social welfare at the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles), criminologists believed that the enactment of conjugal visits would greatly build family ties and reduce recidivism.
After conjugal visits were applied in 17 states in the United States by the early 1990s, the program declined after the rule that conjugal visits are not suitable for people in prison. Then, the states that initially allowed conjugal visits finally eliminated the program.
In June 2007, the California Department of Corrections finally announced that they would permit same-sex conjugal visits. Well, this policy was enforced to comply with a 2005 state law that required state agencies to give the same rights to heterosexual couples. However, it only allows visitors who are registered married same sex couples or domestic partners.
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