Virginia cuts out face-to-face visits on death row

"We were not seeking to cut down on the number of staff, but rather to more effectively utilize those staff while achieving enhanced security," Miskell said.

In Virginia, the new video-visitation system cost about $550,000, and there will be additional technical support costs, Traylor said.

Opponents of the change questioned spending money for a new system in tight budget times. Since 2002, millions in budget cuts have forced the department to close eight Virginia prisons and cut nearly 2,300 positions.

Whitman, whose organization helps foster support for those on death row, argued that the harm to families and inmates done by such a policy outweighs any savings or convenience for the state.

"To take away that human element and to deny the love of a parent or a spouse or a sister, brother or child, it just seems so inhumane when the punishment is already meted out," she said. "It's the sentence of death." There are fewer than a dozen inmates on Virginia's death row, much fewer than in many other death penalty states. Contact visits are allowed in California, which has more death row inmates than any other state with nearly 700, and Florida, which has nearly 400.

There were fewer than 10 death row visits in the past 30 days, Traylor said.

"If those prisons that have more people involved can handle the security, then what is Virginia doing wrong that we can't?" Steinberg asked.

Traylor said the change will allow expanded death row visits. Eventually, friends -- not just immediate family members -- will be allowed to visit and visits could be facilitated from other parts of Virginia or other states.

For Steinberg, the change means she won't get to see her son in person or buy him a snack from the vending machines and have the guard hand it to him through the slot during visits. She had her last face-to-face visit with him earlier this month.

"I cannot describe how sick I felt as I left that room, knowing I would not be able to look my son in the eye, or buy him a soda again, or feel the warmth of his hand behind the glass," she said.