New York State Prisons Turning Away Visitors with Tampons After Scan
Since March 2025, when New York’s state prison agency began requiring visitors to pass through scanners before visiting their loved ones, attorneys, advocates, and lawmakers have heard stories of people getting turned away for things like piercings or tampons. The increased use of scanners was one of prison guards’ demands during a state-wide strike that lasted nearly a month. [See: PLN, May 2025, p.46.] The stated aim of the scans is to reduce cavity searches and decrease contraband entering facilities—even though guards are a primary source of smuggled goods themselves and, as New York Focus reported, most refuse to go through the scanners.
According to an official directive from the state Department of Corrections (DOC) published in September 2025, guards should deny visitors a full-contact visit if they’re unable to clear the body scanner screening, albeit the policy does not define what clearing a scan means. In practice, guards are refusing visitors if their body scans detect “normal anatomy, medical conditions, and predictable artifacts,” Michelle Bonet, an advocate for prison families, told New York Focus. The “predictable artifacts” that get flagged include tampons and intrauterine devices, and a majority of those turned away are women, advocates claim.
The DOC purchased the scanners from security tech firm Tek84 in 2023 at a cost of nearly $13 million. The images they produce are subject to guards’ interpretation, which can vary from guard to guard, leading to “false positives” such as menstrual products. “The scanner is not proof of contraband, but they are treating it like proof of contraband,” Marc Cannan, a New York-based civil rights and criminal defense attorney, said.
Source: New York Focus
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