Search | Prison Phone Justice

Dialing with Dollars: How County Jails Profit From Immigrant Detainees

Article • February 4, 2015 • from PLN February, 2015

Filed under: Immigration, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

end up paying the same inflated telephone rates charged to their citizen prisoner counterparts, but unlike jail prisoners charged with a crime, immigration detainees don’t have access to court ...

Los Angeles County Jail Exploits Prisoners, Families with High Phone Costs

Article • December 3, 2014 • from PLN December, 2014

Filed under: Telephone Rates

Los Angeles County Jail Exploits Prisoners, Families with High Phone Costs by Los Angeles County Jail Exploits Prisoners, Families with High Phone Costs by Derek Gilna Officials with Los Angeles County’s jail system have been criticized by County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky for exploiting prisoners and their families by charging excessive …

Jail Video Visitation Proposal Considered in Dallas County, Texas

Article • October 10, 2014 • from PLN October, 2014

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Visiting

Jail Video Visitation Proposal Considered in Dallas County, Texas by Jail Video Visitation Proposal Considered in Dallas County, Texa On September 9, 2014, the Dallas County Commissioners Court unanimously rejected a proposal that would have ended all face-to-face visits with prisoners at the Dallas County Jail. The Commissioners Court had …

Prison and Jail Phone Reforms Needed in New Jersey

Article • October 10, 2014 • from PLN October, 2014

Filed under: Telephone Rates

Prison and Jail Phone Reforms Needed in New Jersey by Karina Wilkinson Prison and Jail Phone Reforms Needed in New Jersey by Karina Wilkinson Two prison phone service providers, Global Tel*Link and Securus, continue to overcharge prisoners and their families for calls made from prisons and jails in New Jersey. …

SEC Rejects CCA, GEO Group Shareholder Resolutions to Reduce Prison Phone Rates

Article • July 11, 2014 • from PLN July, 2014

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Advocacy, Prison Reform, Statistics/Trends, Telephone Rates

. [See: PLN, Jan. 2014, p.44]. Such kickbacks are typically based on a percentage of revenue generated from inmate telephone services (ITS) – revenue that is mostly paid by prisoners’ families ...

Louisiana Public Service Commission Considers Prison Phone Issues

Article • July 9, 2014 • from PLN July, 2014

Filed under: Telephone Rates

, in a monthly news column, Commissioner Campbell noted that high prison phone rates have troubled him for more than a decade. “This issue involves millions of dollars collected by monopoly telephone ...

Pay Tel Receives Waiver of Prison Phone Rate Caps

Article • May 20, 2014 • from PLN May, 2014

Filed under: Telephone Rates

Pay Tel Receives Waiver of Prison Phone Rate Caps by Pay Tel Receives Waiver of Prison Phone Rate Caps   On January 8, 2014, Pay Tel Communications, a North Carolina company that provides phone services at correctional facilities in 13 states, filed a petition requesting a waiver of the rate …

Lowering Recidivism through Family Communication

Article • April 15, 2014 • from PLN April, 2014

Filed under: Statistics/Trends, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Mail Regulations, Visiting

Lowering Recidivism through Family Communication by Alex Friedmann There are currently 2.2 million people held in prisons and jails in the United States,1 and an estimated 95% of prisoners currently in custody will one day be released. Based on 2012 data, around 637,400 people are released annually from state and …

Prison Phone Justice Campaign: Recent Developments

Article • February 15, 2014 • from PLN February, 2014

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Prison Phone Justice Campaign: Recent Developments by PLN’s December 2013 cover story provided an updated look at the prison phone industry and examined a recent order by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that imposed rate caps on interstate (long distance) prison and jail phone calls. There have since been several …

Shareholder Resolutions Seek to Lower Phone Rates at Private Prisons

Article • January 15, 2014 • from PLN January, 2014

Filed under: Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Telephone Rates

Shareholder Resolutions Seek to Lower Phone Rates at Private Prisons by On November 26, 2013, shareholder resolutions were filed with Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and The GEO Group, Inc. – the nation’s two largest for-profit prison companies; the resolutions seek to reduce the high cost of phone calls made …

FCC Rate Caps on Prison Phone Calls to Impact Nevada DOC’s Budget

Article • January 15, 2014 • from PLN January, 2014

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

FCC Rate Caps on Prison Phone Calls to Impact Nevada DOC’s Budget by David Ganim The rate caps recently imposed on interstate (long distance) prison phone calls by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) signal much-needed financial relief for prisoners and their families; however, they will also leave an estimated $650,000 …

FCC Order Heralds Hope for Reform of Prison Phone Industry

Article • December 15, 2013 • from PLN December, 2013

Filed under: Immigration, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring, Cell Phone Access

facilitates the reintegration of inmates into society upon release from prison," the report said. "In contrast, reducing inmate telephone rates could also have some disadvantages....With fewer profits, BOP ...

Prison Phone Companies Fight for Lucrative Florida DOC Contract

Article • December 15, 2013 • from PLN December, 2013

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Prison Phone Companies Fight for Lucrative Florida DOC Contract by David Ganim In April 2013, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) issued an invitation for companies to bid on the department’s coveted prison phone contract. The FDOC evaluated responses to the bid invitation and conducted negotiations with three companies: Global …

From the Editor

Article • December 15, 2013 • from PLN December, 2013

Filed under: Editorials, Telephones, Telephone Rates

From the Editor by Paul Wright Welcome to the last issue of PLN for 2013. As the year closes we can look back and see we have accomplished a great deal, including expanding the magazine to 64 pages, successfully urging the FCC to cap the cost of interstate prison phone …

Consolidated Footnotes – Charts A to D

Article • December 15, 2013 • from PLN December, 2013

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

% of quarterly gross revenue on all Contractor provided inmate telephone equipment and of quarterly profits on all Enhanced Services over $1.5 million.” 20 South Dakota receives a 38% commission on collect ...

Possession of Cell Phone Doesn’t Violate Nevada Escape Device Statute

Article • December 15, 2013 • from PLN December, 2013

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Escapes, Cell Phone Access

Possession of Cell Phone Doesn’t Violate Nevada Escape Device Statute by The Nevada Supreme Court has held that a statute prohibiting prisoners from possessing escape devices does not encompass possession of a contraband cell phone. Pursuant to NRS 212.093(1), prisoners are prohibited from having “any key, picklock, bolt cutters, wire …

Anonymous PREA Hotlines Not So Anonymous

Article • November 15, 2013 • from PLN November, 2013

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prison Rape Elimination Act, Telephones, Telephone Monitoring

prisons and jails to establish internal telephone hotlines for prisoners to report sexual abuse and harassment, many have done so. When the PREA standards were being developed, some prisoners’ rights ...

CDCR to Block Contraband Cell Phone Signals at all Facilities

Article • October 15, 2013 • from PLN October, 2013

Filed under: Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Cell Phone Access, Guards/Staff, Guard Unions

CDCR to Block Contraband Cell Phone Signals at all Facilities by The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has awarded a six-year system-wide telephone contract ...

After Ten Years, FCC Votes for Prison Phone Reforms!

Article • September 15, 2013 • from PLN September, 2013

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

, Color of Change, Sum of Us, the United Church of Christ’s Office of Communication, National CURE and the Equitable Telephone Charges (eTc) Campaign, directed by Kay Perry of Michigan CURE. &ldquo ...

HRDC Invited to Speak at Unprecedented FCC Workshop on Prison Phone Rates

Article • August 15, 2013 • from PLN August, 2013

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

the first panel discussion at the FCC workshop by addressing the importance of prison phone reforms. "The impact of high telephone rates on prisoners and their families cannot be overstated. Our research ...