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美國亞利桑那州自今年7月20日起實(shí)行一項(xiàng)新規(guī)，要求到州立監(jiān)獄探視親友的人每次繳納25美元的背景審查費(fèi)，并稱收取費(fèi)用是為了保障囚犯的安全，同時還會用于十所州立監(jiān)獄的維護(hù)。據(jù)悉，到州立監(jiān)獄探視的申請需要提前60天，25美元背景審查費(fèi)一旦收取概不退還。不過，新規(guī)實(shí)施前已經(jīng)獲準(zhǔn)探視者、未滿18歲者、囚犯的養(yǎng)父母以及只申請電話探視者均無需繳納此項(xiàng)費(fèi)用。美國一個監(jiān)獄改革組織為此對該州監(jiān)獄系統(tǒng)提起訴訟，稱此項(xiàng)收費(fèi)違反憲法，增加了普通民眾的負(fù)擔(dān)。也有人擔(dān)心，這項(xiàng)規(guī)定可能會減少探視者的數(shù)量和探視次數(shù)，從而使犯人與親友之間日益疏遠(yuǎn)，不利于犯人的改造。
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?Under a new state law, some adults who want to visit incarcerated inmates must pay the fee, with the money raised going toward maintaining 10 state-run prisons. |
PJ Longoni has shelled out hundreds of dollars to pay for toiletries, a television and legal fees for family and friends locked up in Arizona prisons. When she learned she’d have to pay a one-time $25 background check fee to visit her son, she was angry.
Under a new state law, some adults who want to visit incarcerated inmates must pay the fee, with the money raised going toward maintaining 10 state-run prisons.
“For me, it is not the $25 fee that is an issue,” she said. “It is when it is combined with the other costs of caring for an inmate, then it becomes a burden to me.”
A prison reform group sued the corrections department, saying the fee was arbitrary, unconstitutional and amounted to a tax on an already vulnerable segment of residents. Corrections officials say the fees will ensure inmates are safe.
Since the law went into effect July 20, there has been confusion, with potential visitors wondering whether they would have to pay and why a fee for a background check would go toward building repairs. Some worried that the fee would reduce the number of visitors, essentially eliminating the kinds of family contact with prisoners that could improve the chances for rehabilitation.
Plaintiff Donna Hamm said families are already under budget constraints and must pay for multiple members and travel to sometimes remote prisons to reach inmates.
“So in essence, if this policy results in delaying or diminishing or eliminating prison visitation for anyone, the state is shooting themselves in the foot in terms of rehabilitation,” Hamm said. “That’s a very short-sighted view of public safety policy.”
The Tempe, Ariz.-based Middle Ground Prison Reform filed the lawsuit last month seeking to have the fee declared a tax and any money paid so far returned to visitors.
Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan denied allegations that the fee actually is a tax on vulnerable groups and unconstitutional, according to court documents.
Hamm said her group could not find any law similar to Arizona’s in other states. The National Conference of State Legislatures and the Association of State Correctional Administrators do not track that data, the groups said.
It’s too early to tell whether the fee is having an impact on visitation, said Hamm and Barrett Marson, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections.
Processing an application and the fee can take up to 60 days, and the $25 is non-refundable. Marson said about 30,000 people apply to visit state prison inmates each year. Visitors can be on one list to see an inmate only unless they have immediate family members who are incarcerated and also want to see them.
But charging a $25 one-time fee per visitor for background checks wouldn’t necessarily mean the state would generate $750,000 because the law provides some exceptions.
People who were approved for visitation prior to the law’s enactment are grandfathered in. Children under 18, inmates’ foster parents and those who want only for phone privileges are exempt. The original proposal in the state legislature called for everyone to pay.
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