While the signatures gathered here are in support of every incarcerated and their romantic partner, my story carries an intimate plea for a change, by many others, in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's visitation policies. I have a fiancé who is incarcerated and included our visitation photo for passive reference. We both share dreams, hopes, and countless emotions, but we cannot share a simple physical touch due to current rules. 

Sadly, I have seen countless others experience similar struggles, all because our relationships do not fit the conventional categories recognized by prisons. As of now, Texas's Department of Criminal Justice only accommodates spouses, children, and close relatives for contact visitations. Being an engaged couple without a marriage license, we fall through the cracks.

Statistics reveal an indirect correlation between recidivism rates and maintaining strong family relationships during incarceration (Prison Policy Initiative study, 2017). Allowing significant others or paramours to have contact visits without a marriage license could lessen the emotional burden for inmates, concurrently reducing their likelihood of reoffending.

We plea for understanding and empathy. The call here isn't for absolute freedom, but for emotional freedom - to allow relationships beyond formal marital or biological ties. The current classification system should be altered to reflect these loving unions. This change won't simply benefit those in love, it will potentially have a large-scale positive impact on prison rehabilitation efforts.

Kindly sign this petition to urge the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to recognize significant others in their inmate classification plan, allowing for approved contact visitations without the need for a marriage license.

I am attending TBCJ Committee Meetings to push this issue. 

There is already a social study petition submitted to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, as well as the Department, and I resubmitted this petition 2 more times since forming this landing page. By joining this campaign, we use our voices to show the amount of support our incarcerated loved ones truly have outside the walls.