Contraband Law Essay Example

Introduction

Contraband refers to the various goods or items that are illegal to possess or transport. In regards to the article by Kimberly Hricko, a very punitive and restrictive contraband law has been formulated and being excessively and unfairly being imposed to inmates who are incarcerated at the Maryland Women Correctional Institution in Jessup. Therefore, prison contraband is the property in terms of goods and services that are illegal to possess in a prison or correction facility. The Penal code defines it as articles and other material things that an individual in detention facility should not possess or obtain by rule, regulation, statute or order.

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Discussion

In most correction facilities, the contraband law has been fairly formulated and implemented. However, in some prisons such as the one in the article, Maryland Women Correctional Institution in Jessup, the contraband law is punitive, restrictive and unfairly implemented. The aim of the contraband law should not be to punish the inmates but to put up measures to ensure law and order as well as safety in the correction facilities. Inmates should not be able to access or possess materials that can put the lives of other inmates in danger, or threaten the life of prison officer as well as any item that can aid in their escape such as drawings, writings or maps. The contraband law also ensures that drugs do not get to the inmates hence reducing drug and substance abuse in prisons. However, other contraband rules and laws that are being implemented in the Maryland Women Correctional Institution in Jessup are unnecessary and too restrictive.

On a close look, the lady who has been bestowed the responsibility of ensuring that there is no contraband items that reach the inmates in the prison from the mailroom is too petty and inhuman. All the staff in the prison should treat the inmate humanly as they are also human beings who have rights and should be handled with love and respect. For instance, from the article, it is sad that there are instances that the lady has been so unfair such as not allowing the inmates to receive greetings or cards of good wishes from family members and friends during prominent days in their lives such as anniversaries or birthdays. We see that Miss Beatrice focuses more on petty non-issues with an intention of punishing the inmates, friends and families and therefore fails to identify crucial things as seen by the fact that the ten dollar bill is able to get to the inmate.

Conclusion

The contraband law in Maryland Women Correctional Institution is too restrictive and should be relaxed with care. Miss Beatrice, the lady in charge of the mailroom has been described as an elderly woman. From my point of view, the lady is old-fashioned hence she is interpreting the contraband law wrongly as it was being done in the past years whereby the prisons were more of punitive rather than correction facilities. All the prison staff members need to be familiarized with the current trend and changes that have been brought by this new era of human right. The society has changed and therefore the prison officials should know that the inmates now have more rights so that they can correctly interpret the contraband law so that not to be too restrictive.