Technology is leagues ahead of where it was even just ten years ago, and while it has brought many benefits, one bill this legislative session attempted to address concerns of how it can be used for harm.
HB 129, sponsored by Rep. Jefferson Burton (R-Utah), would make it a crime to knowingly possess or to smuggle, sell or give an unauthorized communication device to someone within a correctional facility or the secure area of a mental health facility.
Rep. Burton said these unauthorized devices have been used to continue criminal activity and that courts are not properly addressing the issue.
"To date, these are class B misdemeanors,” he explained. “The challenge the prison system is facing is prosecutors don't prosecute class B misdemeanors and so this continues to happen."
The bill thus upped the offense to a third-degree felony in almost every case, which, unlike class B misdemeanors, would have an effect on sentences for incarcerated individuals.
The bill also would allow correctional facilities and mental health facilities to institute total bans on communication devices.
There was opposition to the inclusion of mental health facilities in the bill. Rita Rogers, the executive director of Mental Health America of Utah, said treating these facilities like correctional facilities criminalizes and stigmatizes mental illness.
“If someone is a patient in a mental health facility, it means that they are very ill,” Rogers said. “This is a vulnerable population that needs therapeutic care, not to be treated in a punitive, punishing manner."
Andrew Riggle, the public policy advocate for the Disability Law Center, also voiced worry about allowing mental health facilities to have total bans on communication devices.
“Communication is vital to our psychological connectiveness and well-being,” Riggle said. “Unless there's a justifiable safety concern or a clinical reason, a mental health client or patient shouldn't be deprived of their phone, particularly because they're already vulnerable.”
He continued, “Why allow a mental health facility to adopt a rule implementing a total ban on communication devices in secure areas rather than basing it on an individualized clinical or safety assessment?”
The sponsor and presenters didn’t know if these issues are present in mental health facilities, and said they were included simply because both are currently addressed in code.
Despite favorable votes throughout the legislative session, the bill was amended to include a fiscal note which was not passed.
Rep. Burton plans to bring the legislation again next year. In the meantime, he has committed to working with the Disability Law Center on concerns with the bill.
