The Marion County Jail in Salem, Oregon is instituting a new policy on January 1st that will limit incoming and outgoing mail to postcards only.  From the story:

Current policy allows letters with no limit on the number of pages. The policy will save the county money and man-hours spent sorting through more than 1,000 pieces of general mail inmates receive each week.

“We’re not trying to be mean or make people upset,” Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers said.

“It’s about efficiency and safety in the workplace.”

Inmates will be required to purchase standardized pre-stamped 3.5-by-8.5-inch postcards from a commissary. The postcards feature a photo of the jail. The new rules will not affect mail to and from public officials or legal mail.

The benefits of the new policy include decreased traffic of contraband items through the jail, as well as saving time and costs, Marion County jail Cmdr. Jeff Holland said. The most common contraband item deputies find is pornography, Holland said.

This is, of course, a cost-saving measure for the jail and the county.  Holland estimates that the county spends approximately $60,000 per year in hours sorting jail mail; he believes switching to postcards only (other than legal documents) can save the county half of those costs.

While it is obviously the case that those in jail have limited freedom and rights, it does seem to me that a postcard-only policy can be damaging not only to the inmate but to his/her family and friends, as well.  Have you written or received a postcard lately?  With the exception of some of the creative cards on PostSecret, I don’t imagine a lot of deep thoughts or emotions being communicated on a postcard.  While jail/prison mail is always screened for safety issues, the writers can at least feel that they have *some* level of privacy in mailed letters.   Letters from inmates are clearly marked as such on the outside of the envelope, but it does seem to take labeling and stigma to a whole new level to force inmates to send postcards showcasing photos of the jail to their children.

The ACLU of Oregon weighed in with this comment:

“We think that it is a bad policy if it is going to limit the way the inmates are going to be able to communicate with their families in a meaningful way,” said Jann Carson, associate director of the ACLU of Oregon…”One of the best ways that we make ex-convicts reintegrate is keeping those ties to families while they are incarcerated,” Carson said. “If this policy is going to make that more difficult, that is troubling.”

Troubling, indeed.