Women who visit prisoners on Rikers Island are being ordered to cover up if they arrive in low-cut tops or miniskirts. Anyone deemed unsuitably dressed will be issued with a deliberately unflattering neon green T-shirt – which only comes in XXL. The measures were introduced after some of the inmates at the New York facility were caught trying to have sex with their partners during visitor hours.
Women who visit prisoners on Rikers Island are being ordered to cover up if they arrive in low-cut tops or miniskirts. Anyone deemed unsuitably dressed will be issued with a deliberately unflattering neon green T-shirt – which only comes in XXL. The measures were introduced after some of the inmates at the New York facility were caught trying to have sex with their partners during visitor hours. Officials hope the baggy smocks will keep sex-starved prisoners calm, but critics say the shirts – which cost $5,000 for 800 – are a waste of public money.
The same rules also ban any jewelry apart from wedding rings, as well as spandex leggings if they’re not worn with a skirt. A jail supervisor told the New York Daily News he had caught several inmates attempting to have sex with their girlfriends in communal visitor areas, which are usually full of children. He said: ‘It was really gross. It was really getting out of control.’ The new rules have proved less than popular with the prison’s female visitors. One was overheard yelling: ‘I have to wear what? You’re just trying to make me look bad in front of my man. Why’d I even bother?’
The smocks, which are washed every day, are also designed to clamp down on friends and relatives bringing contraband goods into jail. Even though the jail’s 1,770 daily visitors are searched three times before they reach the inmates, they still succeed in getting drugs and weapons past security. As the t-shirts don’t have pockets, anyone trying to smuggle items in would have to reach under the hem to get at them – drawing the attention of prison officers.
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