In some states in the United States, conjugal visits are allowed. A conjugal visit is a visit which is scheduled where an inmate can spend several hours or days with a visitor in private. Now, the question is, do an inmate and a visitor need to be married for conjugal visit?
To be able to do a conjugal visit, an inmate and the visitor need to be married which means that the visitor needs to be the inmate’s legal spouse. However, every state that implements conjugal visits may have different rules for this. Regardless of whether states require the inmates and their visitors to be married or not for being able to have a conjugal visit, I recommend that if you want to do a conjugal visit, you need to do that with your legal spouse where you have to be married.
One of the reasons why there is a conjugal visit for an inmate is to permit inmates to have intimate contact which is sex with their legal partner. As explained on the Criminal Defense Lawyer site, a conjugal or extended family visit can take place a few hours or overnight depending on the state’s program.
Do all inmates have the chances to have conjugal visits? According to the Vocative site, conjugal visits can only take place in medium or lesser security prisons. From state to state, the rules for conjugal visits may be different, but generally inmates need to apply for the privilege and they do not do any infractions such as fighting in the past six months. It is also explained that before a visit, the inmate needs to pass a health check and in California, an inmate needs to be legally married. In the Today I Found Out, it is also explained that if inmates committed a violent crime, have a life sentence, are a sex offender and other serious crimes, they are not allowed for a conjugal visit. It is also explained that in Connecticut, if an inmate is a member of a gang, conjugal visits are not allowed for them.
Where does a conjugal visit take place? It takes place in a private room which is aimed for that purpose where in the room there are a number of things needed such as soap, sheets, towels and condoms.
Is it a conjugal visit free? Mostly, a conjugal visit is free, but in the Vocative site in an article posted in 2016 and originally posted in 2013, it is explained that in Washington state, there is a fee for that.
For your information, not all states allow inmates for having a conjugal visit. In 1993, there were 17 states that allowed conjugal visits for their inmates, but now there are only four states including California, Connecticut, New York and Washington.
Conjugal visits are not considered as a right for an inmate, but a privilege. Cited from Criminal Defense Lawyer site, the U.S. Supreme Court and some federal courts have held that inmates do not have a constitutional right to conjugal visits. So, conjugal visits are allowed for inmates who have shown good behavior while incarcerated.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
