JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County jail policy prevents inmates from in-person visits and some families are questioning whether the policy violates their rights.
Ida Byrd-Hill says her 76 year old father has been in the Duval County jail since February. She says due to his age, he doesn’t know how to use technology or work the jail’s video calling system.
“Right now, the way that it operates, it's just not a humane system," Byrd-Hill said.
She believes only allowing video visitations is discriminatory toward inmates who don’t understand technology.
“I tried to set up a meeting, but because he's not tech savvy, or understands how to use messaging and all of that to get to a meeting, he would never come to the phone," Byrd-Hill said.
Currently, the Duval County jail has no in-person visitation.
According to the jail’s policy, inmates are allowed video visitations through the jail's calling system, or visitors can come to the jail and use the onsite video visitation center for free.
A spokesperson for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the policy was implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic, and there are no plans to allow in-person visits in the future.
"We have a digital divide between young and old," Byrd-Hill said. "So to set up a jail system that you know, plays into the digital divide and keeps the divide going. That's not a little discriminatory, that's a lot discriminatory.”
Is denying inmates in-person visitation a violation of constitutional rights? For that answer, First Coast News turned to Criminal Defense Attorney Shannon Schott.
“There could be an infringement on their Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment," Schott said. "There’s plenty of data that says that human contact even if it’s through glass, just to see someone in person is extremely important for inmates and for their mental health while they’re incarcerated.”
Schott said there have been lawsuits filed in other states against similar visitation policies, but here in Jacksonville no lawsuits have been filed or legal decision has been made about the visitation policy.
With talks to relocating the Duval County jail to a new location, families like Bryd’s are hoping for a change.
“You have a right to have access to your family. And so in essence, the jail has not only denied my father, his right, they have denied me my right," Byrd-Hill said.
A JSO spokesperson said inmates are offered assistance if they do not know how to use the video calling system.