Warden of Fed. Detention Center of Philadelphia Sued Over ‘Draconian’ Visitation Policy

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Sean Marler, in his official capacity as warden of the Federal Detention Center of Philadelphia (FDC), is the defendant in a proposed class action lawsuit that hopes to challenge what the suit’s two lead plaintiffs allege is “the most draconian visitation policy in the federal system” – a policy the lawsuit says makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for pre-trial inmates to see their children while detained. The plaintiffs argue the visitation policy overseen by the defendant serves no real penological purpose and violates Federal Bureau of Prisons regulations.

According to the complaint, the FDC in July 2016 implemented a new visitation policy that “severely” restricted pre-trial inmates’ permissible visitors. The new policy, the case says, denies pre-trial inmates visits from friends and relatives, and only allows for visits from immediate family, i.e. parents, step-parents, foster parents, siblings, current spouses and children. The case claims, however, that children under 16 years old cannot enter the FDC without an adult who is an inmate’s immediate family member.

“When an inmate is not currently married to the other parent of his or her child, that other parent is not a member of the ‘immediate family’ who can bring the child to visit,” the lawsuit reads, noting the above-described policy applies only to pre-trial inmates, who are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and not individuals who have already been sentenced.