Search | Prison Phone Justice

New Jersey Prison Phone Class-action Suit Against Global Tel*Link Continues

Article • August 2, 2016 • from PLN August, 2016

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

New Jersey Prison Phone Class-action Suit Against Global Tel*Link Continues by Derek Gilna A New Jersey federal district court denied a motion to dismiss filed by prison telecom giant Global Tel*Link (GTL) and its subsidiary DSI-ITI in a class-action lawsuit alleging predatory practices in providing phone service to New Jersey …

From the Editor

Article • August 2, 2016 • from PLN August, 2016

Filed under: Editorials, Telephones, Telephone Rates, Publications/Books, Mail Regulations, PLN Litigation, Censorship, First Amendment, PLN related

From the Editor by Paul Wright The Campaign for Prison Phone Justice, co-founded by the Human Rights Defense Center, has led the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to curb some of the more egregious abuses of the prison telecom industry. It has also helped focus increased attention from all sources, including …

Alabama Prisoners Bribed to Dance Nude for Doughnuts

Article • July 29, 2016

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Harassment, Guard Misconduct, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Failure to Protect (General), Food, Jail Specific, Cell Phone Access, Failure to Train/Supervise, Staff Training

Alabama Prisoners Bribed to Dance Nude for Doughnuts by Three Alabama jail guards have been charged in a “dancing for doughnuts” practice. Pickens County Jail guards Demetrius Harris, Anthony Lavender, and Chance Draper were charged with felony ethics violations for coercing female prisoners to dance nude for donuts and cell …

Courts Divided on Confidentiality of Attorney-Prisoner Email

Article • July 6, 2016 • from PLN July, 2016

Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Prison Reform, Computer Searches, Attorney Client, Computers, Telephone Monitoring, Due Process, Legal Mail, Attorney Visits

Courts Divided on Confidentiality of Attorney-Prisoner Email by Derek Gilna The fact that prosecutors and corrections officials read emails between prisoners and their lawyers comes as no surprise to most defense attorneys, many of whom find it ironic that the very public officials paid to enforce the laws do not …

A Prison Telecom in Sheep’s Clothing

Article • June 3, 2016 • from PLN June, 2016

Filed under: Advocacy, Telephones, Telephone Rates, PLN Litigation, PLN related

to cell phones is restricted, the use of the prison’s telephone system increases – which results in larger profits for the ICS provider. The failure to disclose Wigger’s affiliation ...

Advocates Leery of Cell Phones Given to Undocumented Immigrants

Article • June 3, 2016 • from PLN June, 2016

Filed under: GEO Group/Wackenhut, Immigration, Telephone Monitoring, Cell Phone Access

Advocates Leery of Cell Phones Given to Undocumented Immigrants by Derek Gilna Immigration rights advocates are suspicious of a new government-funded program administered by GEO Care – a division of the GEO Group, one of the nation’s largest for-profit prison companies – that supplies cell phones to low-risk undocumented immigrants. …

How Prison Phone Calls Became a Tax on the Poor

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Family, Fathers in Prison, Mothers in Prison

How Prison Phone Calls Became a Tax on the Poor by by Eric Markowitz, International Business Times On a recent sticky morning in a trailer park in Biloxi, Mississippi, Mary Jo Barnett switched on her 8-inch Samsung Galaxy tablet to speak with her 20-year-old daughter, Amber, who suffers from bipolar disorder …

A “Quantum Leap” Isn’t Far Enough for the Prison Phone Industry

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Prison Reform, Telephone Rates, PLN Litigation

A “Quantum Leap” Isn’t Far Enough for the Prison Phone Industry by Carrie Wilkinson The December 2015 issue of Prison Legal News detailed a historic October 2015 rulemaking decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to comprehensively reform the prison phone industry. Regular PLN readers are all too familiar with …

From the Editor

Article • May 5, 2016 • from PLN May, 2016

Filed under: Prison Reform, Conditions of Confinement, PLRA, Telephone Rates, PLN Litigation, PLN related

without remedies tend to be meaningless. The Prison Phone Justice Campaign continues in its efforts to ensure prisoners and their families can access reasonable, affordable telephone communications. Prison ...

Second Circuit Allows Muslim Prisoners’ Bivens Claims to Proceed

Article • April 1, 2016 • from PLN April, 2016

Filed under: Religious Discrimination, Strip Searches, War on Terror, Food, Eighth Amendment, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Telephone Access

;; and not allowed to move around their unit or freely use the telephone and commissary, or access MDC handbooks “which explained how to file complaints about mistreatment.” Additionally, the Court ...

D.C. Circuit Court Partially Stays FCC Order Capping Prison and Jail Phone Rates

Article • March 31, 2016 • from PLN April, 2016

Filed under: Telephone Rates

D.C. Circuit Court Partially Stays FCC Order Capping Prison and Jail Phone Rates by Over 1.5 million families with loved ones in state and federal prisons will experience significant financial relief with respect to the costs of Inmate Calling Services (ICS) beginning March 17, 2016, despite the best efforts of …

From the Editor

Article • March 31, 2016 • from PLN April, 2016

Filed under: Private Prisons, Wexford Health Services, California Forensic Medical Group, Corizon, Centurion, Medical, Prisoner Privileges, Education, Telephone Rates, PLN related

From the Editor by Paul Wright Recent decades have seen the rise of not only private, for-profit prisons but also the privatization of other aspects of corrections systems, most notably the provision of medical care. As with prison privatization, the only people who have benefited are the owners of and …

Bids for Florida DOC Video Visitation Technology Result in Lawsuit

Article • March 31, 2016

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Telephone Rates, Video Visitation

could receive up to 1,000 points. The company receiving the highest score would be awarded a contract to provide telephone services and video visitation technology to the DOC. When all the proposals were ...

Iowa Court Effectively Bars Lifer From Spending Any Money While In Prison

Article • March 31, 2016

Filed under: Restitution, Commissary, Telephone Access

a $240,000 bill for court costs and restitution. This means that not only will Richter be prohibited from ever buying hygiene items or food items from the prison commissary, she cannot even make a telephone ...

Prison Phone Companies Seek New Revenue Source in Electronic Messaging

Article • February 29, 2016

Filed under: JPay, Inc., Telephones, Telephone Rates, Video Visitation

bureaus and sheriff's departments. Nothing Like Email At least 10 companies providing services ranging from financial transactions to telephone calls now offer electronic messaging at hundreds of jails ...

Prison Policy Initiative Releases Report on Email Services for Prisoners

Article • February 29, 2016 • from PLN March, 2016

Filed under: Prison Reform, Computers, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Telephone Rates, Family

Prison Policy Initiative Releases Report on Email Services for Prisoners by Derek Gilna The non-profit, Massachusetts-based Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) has released a comprehensive study on communication options for prisoners, focusing on email services while also citing issues related to phone calls, visitation and postal mail. According to the January …

Oklahoma DOC, Sheriffs Challenge FCC’s Prison Phone Reforms

Article • February 29, 2016 • from PLN March, 2016

Filed under: Prison Reform, Telephones, Telephone Rates

Oklahoma DOC, Sheriffs Challenge FCC’s Prison Phone Reforms by Carrie Wilkinson A petition for review has been filed in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the Second Order and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking released by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on November 4, 2015, which made sweeping …

From the Editor

Article • February 29, 2016 • from PLN March, 2016

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Prison Reform, Jail Specific, Education, Telephone Rates, Video Visitation, PLN related

From the Editor by Paul Wright One downside of publishing a magazine like Prison Legal News for 26 years is that in some respects we are not covering a one-off or isolated story but rather are reporting an ongoing and developing issue. This month’s cover story about the epic abuse, …

Louisiana Jail Phone Consultants Resign Due to Conflicts of Interest

Article • January 12, 2016

Filed under: Telephone Rates

Louisiana Jail Phone Consultants Resign Due to Conflicts of Interest by David Reutter Two consultants hired to analyze the cost of prisoner phone calls charged by Louisiana’s Sheriffs have resigned due to conflict of interest. The Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) held two hearings in 2012 on the prison phone …

Texas Begins Intercepting and Blocking Cell Phone Calls from Prisons

Article • January 7, 2016

Filed under: Telephone Monitoring

Texas Begins Intercepting and Blocking Cell Phone Calls from Prisons by Matthew Clarke By Matt Clarke In April 2013, Texas began intercepting cell phone calls originating in two of its largest prisons. The equipment installed at the Stiles Unit in Beaumont and the McConnell Unit in Beeville is intended to …