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Witnesses, families push visitation reforms as committee hears decades of related testimony
Summary
At a joint public hearing on correction-related bills, incarcerated people, family members and advocates urged lawmakers to pass a visitation reform bill, S.1720/H.2591, saying Department of Correction policies now block meaningful family contact and impede rehabilitation.
Representative Christopher Worrell called the joint hearing to order and said the first portion would include remote testimony from currently incarcerated people. Over many hours of testimony the committee heard repeated appeals to change visitation rules that family members and advocates say have become more restrictive since 2018 and since the pandemic.
In testimony supporting S.1720 and H.2591, people held in Massachusetts prisons and their relatives described a pattern of long, invasive application processes, caps on who can be on a visitor list, short timed visits, and inconsistent or overzealous enforcement of dress and conduct rules. “Visitors…
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