Shortly after the policy was announced that prisoners in San Diego County jails are only allowed to receive postcards in the mail, many advocates are speaking out, claiming that the new mandate violates the inmates' basic rights.

One of the groups speaking out against the policy is the American Civil Liberties Union, which is arguing that it "infringes on free speech and will be detrimental to the inmates' family and personal relationships," according to the North County Times. However, many jail employees and local law enforcement officials support the policy, and believe that it will help reduce the amount of contraband entering jails.

Sheriff's Commander Rich Miller runs the department's seven county jails. He told the newspaper that the jail employees spend significant amounts of time checking each of the inmate's mail for drugs. The new policy, which goes into effect beginning September 1, will prohibit prisoners from receiving mail with crayon markings, or markings from paint or magic markers , because police fear opiates such as Suboxone will be brought in through coloring book pages or on children's drawings.

According to Miller, there were 73 cases involving contraband being smuggled in through the post in 2010, and so far this year, the number has decreased to 35 reported cases, which he said he believes the police force is responsible for.

"I really believe the decrease can be attributed to the jail investigations unit being more diligent in assisting line deputies with scanning, and training bulletins (highlighting) the latest trends or tricks," he told the source. "Obviously, still to have 35 cases is unacceptable."

The ACLU isn't the first organization to voice its opposition to this sort of policy. Last year, the Ventura County Public Defender's Office stated that the postcards-only mandate imposed in Ventura County was unconstitutional and asked the court to put an end to it going into effect. However, the regulation was upheld in court.