Florida prisons may soon ban physical mail for inmates

(Fla.) Florida Department of Corrections officials are planning to digitize almost all incoming prison mail and provide it to incarcerated people on tablets.

The plan, which was announced last month, would eliminate incarcerated people's access to physical mail and limit the number of pages someone could mail inside at one time. Officials would photocopy every card, letter, or picture to provide it to the inmates electronically.

Photo by RODNAE Productions/Pexels

The proposal has sparked criticism among inmates' families and advocates, who argue that photos of families, kid's drawings, and handwritten letters are among the most cherished items for inmates and that preserving bonds with loved ones improves their mental health. 

"For my husband, personally, physical pictures are what keep him motivated, they are what keep him going day to day," one woman pleaded during the virtual hearing with FDC officials, as reported by the Orlando Sentinel. 

If the plan is finalized, standard mail sent to prisoners will be processed and reviewed by a third-party vendor, which will then scan in the content to provide via tablets or shared "kiosks" electronically. Recipients can reprint the photocopied letter or photo at a cost: 25 cents per page or $1 for a page in color. 

During a virtual hearing on June 11th, the FDC Assistant Secretary Richard Comerford claimed that the agency had intercepted 35,000 pieces of contraband through routine mail in the last two years. However, he did not provide the total amount of mail received to put that number in context. He did add the implementation of digital mail is supposed to improve security. 

If claimed as a budget impact, the proposal by the Florida Department of Corrections does not need legislative approval to make the change. 

Pennsylvania instituted a similar change in 2018 as a new way to minimize drugs smuggled in through the mail. Shortly after, inmates quickly reported poor-quality scans with missing pages and photographs rendered too dark to see faces. Nonetheless, Michigan adopted this approach in 2020, following other states and some federal prisons as well.

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