Most Michigan jails now prohibit in-person visits, but at least one county is allowing them again amid a series of legal challenges alleging the policies force inmates to pay high rates to contact their families through private phone and video vendors.

“ Right 2 Hug ” lawsuits in St. Clair and Genesee counties alleged local governments have profited from the calls by depriving children of the right to visit their parents.

Both cases were initially dismissed, but plaintiffs have appealed, and each case could come before the Michigan Court of Appeals as soon as this fall.

“Kids have a constitutional right to see and hug their parents,” said Cody Cutting, an attorney with the Washington-based Civil Rights Corps, who is representing youth plaintiffs in the Michigan complaints alongside t

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