Family Visits, sometimes referred to as conjugal visits, are customary throughout the world, particularly in the Scandinavian countries and South America. In Canada, most prisoners are permitted private family visits once every two months for periods of up to 72 hours. In the USA, 6 states have a family visiting program: California, Connecticut, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, and Washington. In these jurisdictions, prison administrators consider family visits a special privilege, earned through good conduct.

The family visiting program in California has been in place since 1967, approved by Governor Ronald Reagan as a tool for use in the prisons to reduce violence, keep families together, rehabilitate, and to promote good behavior. The program allowed all inmates except those on Death Row and those still in Reception Centers to participate, and it operated successfully for almost 30 years.

In 1996, the California Department of Corrections established what they called “Emergency Regulations” which prohibited the Family Visiting program to all but a very few inmates. Lifers lost their family visits. Proponents of the Initiative to regain these family visits believe that the reason for the prohibition was punitive, and that it serves no other purpose, yet in fact works against rehabilitation. The prohibition, in effect, promotes the dissolution of the family relationships which are so desperately needed.

While opponents to this program refer to it as only conjugal, it is in fact much more than that. The program allows inmates to spend quality time with their children, with spouses, with siblings, with parents, and even with grandparents. The 2-day visit takes place on the prison grounds and is under constant scrutiny for safety and security, yet at the same time it allows for a family atmosphere for the participants, away from the crowded and impersonal atmosphere of the general visiting rooms.

In our initiative an inmate cannot participate in the program if he/she has disciplinary write-ups, so it encourages healthy behavior in the prison.  It gives them something special to look forward to and a good reason to follow the rules and regulations.  It allows all prisoners who choose to rehabilitate themselves the opportunity to do so through maintaining family ties, education, and freedom from drug and alcohol dependence. Since the limitations to these programs were established, the percentage of violence, staff assaults, divorce, and even suicides have increased profoundly. Due to prison overcrowding and budgetary concerns, very few programs are now offered to inmates. The Public Safety Through Prisoner Rehabilitation Act of 2008 would provide a major incentive for inmates in a very cost effective manner.

The organization Family Comes First and it's website, FamilyVisiting.com, have been created to inform about the initiative, to organize it, and to keep people updated on its progress.  As this effort progresses, we know that we will need to gather approximately 500,000 signatures of registered California voters in a 150-day period in order to qualify it for the November, 2008 election.