DEFENDING CHILDREN AND FAMILIES’ RIGHT TO HUG IN CALIFORNIA
On July 22 2026, BHB, along with our partners at Civil Rights Corp, Public Justice, and Berkeley Law School’s Criminal Law and Justice Center, filed suit on behalf of children and families of people jailed in Solano County, who are fighting for the basic right to hug and hold their loved ones. The suit alleges that Solano County, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, the Solano County Sheriff, and iWebVisit, a for-profit telecom company, violated the California Constitution by conspiring to ban in-person contact visits at Solano County jails so that families would be forced to pay for expensive video calls on iWebVisit software just to see the people they love.
“Under the California Constitution, families of incarcerated people are still afforded a right to family integrity. This includes the ability to hug and hold hands with their incarcerated loved one. Families, and especially children, should not be denied their most basic human needs so that tech companies and jails can make money. We look forward to protecting Solano County families and advancing reform on this issue in California and nationwide”
Partner organizations: Public Justice, Civil Rights Corps, and The Berkeley Criminal Law & Justice Center
Important Documents:
First Amended Complaint - Etter et al. v. Solano County et al.
Media Coverage: The New York Times, “Do Families Have a Right to Hug Their Jailed Loved Ones?”; San Francisco Chronicle, “Solano County profited from inmate video calls after banning in-person jail visits, lawsuit says”; Current Affairs, “Children Deserve the Right to Hug Their Incarcerated Parents”; KQED Newscast (radio), “Interview with BHB’s Hadley Rood”; Vanguard News Group, “Lawsuit Alleges Solano County Profits from Banning In-Person Family Visits”.