As concerned advocates, formerly incarcerated people, and loved ones of people who are incarcerated in the Illinois Department of Corrections, Restore Justice opposes any action that would temporarily or permanently suspend the processing and delivery of mail to people who are incarcerated.
Ensuring the safety of the people who live and work in our state’s prisons is essential. Restricting the mail will not increase their safety. In other states, banning physical mail did not reduce overdoses or drug use in prisons, and in some cases, the rate of drug use and overdoses increased. The rate of people incarcerated in Pennsylvania testing positive on random drug screenings nearly tripled following the implementation of mail scanning in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. In Missouri prisons, the rate of overdoses rose after the state replaced physical mail with mail scanning. There is no evidence that suspending the delivery of physical mail to people who are incarcerated will provide any institutional safety benefits.
The risks associated with accidental exposure to substances like fentanyl when handling the mail are overstated. Medical and toxicology experts have found that it is impossible to inhale or absorb enough fentanyl or other synthetic drugs through touch to constitute a meaningful exposure. In the recent, high-profile incident at Shawnee Correctional Center, testing found no drugs or hazardous materials present. The Sirchie NARK II field test kits correctional officers used to detect synthetic cannabinoids in other recent incidents are well-known for being unreliable, with high rates of false positives.
Suspending the delivery of mail is a needless disruption that would fail to make Illinois prisons safer and would simultaneously deprive people who are incarcerated of meaningful, tangible connection with the outside world. Letters, cards, drawings, and photographs sent in the mail are cherished forms of communication for people who are incarcerated and their loved ones on the outside.
Maintaining close relationships with loved ones during incarceration promotes rehabilitation and improves post-release outcomes. Restricting this kind of family contact has real, measurable negative consequences for mental health, behavior, and reentry success.
“I would always read and reread letters from my grandmother, who passed away in the early years of my incarceration. She showed me nothing but support and encouragement in these letters, and I used them as motivation for years,” Restore Justice Policy Manager James Swansey said. “Still having the original letters has helped me hold on to the memory of her and has given me the confidence to do what I do today.”
We also strongly oppose any transition to digitized or scanned mail as a replacement for physical mail. Digital replications are frequently low quality or incomplete, and physical letters offer a personal connection that cannot be replaced by digital means. Replacing physical mail with mail scanning only exacerbates the dehumanization that people who are incarcerated experience daily. Mail scanning is an unnecessarily complicated and expensive practice that violates privacy and increases costs for the family members of people who are incarcerated.
We urge our state’s lawmakers and the Department of Corrections to reject any proposals to suspend the delivery of physical mail or replace it with scanned copies. Instead, we call on these authorities to protect the human dignity of people who are incarcerated in Illinois and prioritize reforms that foster connection and transformation rather than those that dehumanize and isolate.