Communication with families on the outside are a critical part of avoiding recidivism once the inmate is released. This is a mechanism the prison industrial complex uses to ensure that the inmates are not rehabilitated and are highly likely to return.

Likewise, if you take someone as a prisoner, you take then into _your_ custody. You are responsible for that person. You are literally their custodian now. You have an obligation to ensure that their rights are being protected. How we expect for profit institutions to do this on behalf of the state is entirely beyond me.