Prison may end some child sleepovers

YORK, Neb. — Once a month, Jessica Davis spends five nights in a row with her 2-year-old daughter — behind prison walls.

She is just one of dozens of mother prisoners who participate in an overnight visitation program that Gov. Mike Johanns wants changed after a convicted murderer requested that her 6-year-old stay overnight with her.

Johanns said last week the policy at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York will be changed to prohibit women serving life sentences from participating, and he ordered a review of the entire overnight program to begin Tuesday.

Davis, 19, serving up to two years in prison for second-degree assault, said she is bothered that some children will not be allowed to spend the night with their mothers. She and her daughter read books, watch movies, play with stuffed animals and enjoy an outdoor playground during the sleepovers.

"It's given me that chance to be able to bond with my daughter," she said. "It gives her that security knowing that I am OK."

But Bruce Faust doesn't want his ex-wife, Kimberly Faust, to enjoy such a luxury with their 6-year-old son. Faust was convicted in November of killing her estranged husband's girlfriend, Shannon Bluhm, and a passer-by who tried to save her.

On Thursday, Johanns took away Faust's right to have the son sleep over, saying the policy will no longer apply to inmates who face no possibility of parole. The move is to take effect within two weeks.

Harold Clarke, prison director, said the program was the first of its kind in the country and has a proven track record.

"Not one kid has had a bad experience in this program," Clarke said.

Of the 267 inmates at York, prison officials estimate about 40 to 50 are mothers. Clarke said more than 95 percent of the women will be leaving the prison within three years, making it important to have a program that will help them be better parents once they leave.

Johanns said the overnight program has merits for women who will be paroled.

The prison resembles a college campus. Red-brick housing units are spread out in a semicircle, inside which inmates walk freely. The entire campus is ringed by a barbed-wire fence.

Under the policy, children ages 1 to 8 are allowed to spend nights with their mothers.