SEAGOVILLE, TX -
A north Texas woman, who pressured officials at the federal lock-up in Seagoville to change security practices, is feeling victorious.
Controversy has been brewing at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville over a security machine used on visitors to screen for drugs. The problem is this machine is widely known for giving false positives; when that happened to a Lancaster woman, she decided to take action.
"It's a long drive and a hard road, and then you get turned away and don't get to see them," said April Smith, the wife of an inmate.
Smith said twice when she showed up on visiting day, she was turned away. "It's hard on a marriage, it's hard on a relationship, especially when they are doing time," she said.
Smith says she was told she couldn't visit her husband, waiting to be sentenced on money-laundering charges, for 30 days. Prison officials said the denied visit was because she tested positive for drugs. Smith said, "I was embarrassed, and the first thing I thought of, 'I don't handle drugs, I don't do drugs; and so I went and had a 10-panel drug screen done."
Smith said that test came back negative, so she sent the results, along with a letter, to the warden at the federal lock-up, asking him to review the use of the Ion Spectrometer. The machine is used to test for traces of drug residue. It's popular in prisons, but widely criticized. Poppy seeds, herbal products, even body enzymes, experts say, can give a false positive.
We uncovered the problem last year, when an emotional 85-year-old Beatrice Callahan broke down when she was turned away for drug use. Callahan said, "It may be the last visit I get. Callahan said later, "I have never taken drugs. I don't even drink."
According to a memo from a prison advocacy group, the Federal Bureau of prisons is now suspending use of the Ion Spectrometer drug detection equipment because of a software problem, the bureau said visitors with privileges suspended based solely on a positive drug test will be up for review.
That was welcome news to Smith, who no longer has to worry about getting any and all residue off her hands as she had to in the past. Now, she hopes, when she comes to visit, there won't be a machine standing in the way. "I'm very relieved; very happy," she said.
The November Coalition, a prison advocacy group that has been pushing for the end of these machines, told KDAF the machines are being yanked in several federal lock-ups.
We talked to a prison official outside prison walls today; she declined to tell us anything about the use of the machines.
Controversy has been brewing at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville over a security machine used on visitors to screen for drugs. The problem is this machine is widely known for giving false positives; when that happened to a Lancaster woman, she decided to take action.
"It's a long drive and a hard road, and then you get turned away and don't get to see them," said April Smith, the wife of an inmate.
Smith said twice when she showed up on visiting day, she was turned away. "It's hard on a marriage, it's hard on a relationship, especially when they are doing time," she said.
Smith says she was told she couldn't visit her husband, waiting to be sentenced on money-laundering charges, for 30 days. Prison officials said the denied visit was because she tested positive for drugs. Smith said, "I was embarrassed, and the first thing I thought of, 'I don't handle drugs, I don't do drugs; and so I went and had a 10-panel drug screen done."
Smith said that test came back negative, so she sent the results, along with a letter, to the warden at the federal lock-up, asking him to review the use of the Ion Spectrometer. The machine is used to test for traces of drug residue. It's popular in prisons, but widely criticized. Poppy seeds, herbal products, even body enzymes, experts say, can give a false positive.
We uncovered the problem last year, when an emotional 85-year-old Beatrice Callahan broke down when she was turned away for drug use. Callahan said, "It may be the last visit I get. Callahan said later, "I have never taken drugs. I don't even drink."
According to a memo from a prison advocacy group, the Federal Bureau of prisons is now suspending use of the Ion Spectrometer drug detection equipment because of a software problem, the bureau said visitors with privileges suspended based solely on a positive drug test will be up for review.
That was welcome news to Smith, who no longer has to worry about getting any and all residue off her hands as she had to in the past. Now, she hopes, when she comes to visit, there won't be a machine standing in the way. "I'm very relieved; very happy," she said.
The November Coalition, a prison advocacy group that has been pushing for the end of these machines, told KDAF the machines are being yanked in several federal lock-ups.
We talked to a prison official outside prison walls today; she declined to tell us anything about the use of the machines.
