Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person visitations inside the Broome County Jail were not allowed due to restrictions.

Currently, the Broome County Jail is still not allowing in-person visitations to inmates, according to Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier (JUST). JUST held a protest in Binghamton, announcing their lawsuit against Broome County Sheriff David Harder to force to allow in-person visitation rights for incarcerated people to see their loved ones.

"The Broome County Jail has been without in-person visitation, without contact with loved ones and incarcerated people for over two years now," said JUST member Andrew Pragacz. 

Pragacz argues that in-person visitations have long returned to prisons and other correctional facilities across New York State, but Broome has not. Incarcerated people inside Broome County Jail have had to rely on phone calls to communicate with loved ones.

Pragacz says that studies have been conducted showing that in-person visitations sustain the mental health of the incarcerated and their families, including children, while also keeping jails safer inside the walls.

JUST is continuing their protest by collecting signatures from residents for Broome County Jail to reopen for in-person visitations. The petition can be found here.

For more information on JUST and its cause, click here.