Search | Prison Phone Justice

"Strong Families, Safe Communities" Sends Clear Message for Phone Justice

Article • October 15, 2012

Filed under: Organizing, Telephone Rates

-15 The Campaign for Prison Phone Justice is a national effort challenging prison phone kickbacks and the U.S. Prison Telephone Industry. The campaign is jointly led by: Media Action Grassroots Network ...

Texas Court Orders TDCJ to Provide Hearing Impaired Telecommunications

Article • September 15, 2012 • from PLN September, 2012

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Telephones, Telephone Access

Texas Court Orders TDCJ to Provide Hearing Impaired Telecommunications by On April 5, 2011, a Texas state court issued a temporary injunction ordering the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to provide telecommunications to hearing impaired prisoners using the Texas Relay Service (TRS). Leslie Arrington, Janet Lock, Kathy Williams and …

From the Editor

Article • July 15, 2012 • from PLN July, 2012

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, Editorials, Telephone Rates

the Prison Phone Justice Campaign, we are also updating the information for all 50 states and the Bureau of Prisons with respect to their telephone contracts, the actual cost of prison phone calls ...

Texas Prison System Increases Prisoners’ Monthly Phone Minutes

Article • July 15, 2012 • from PLN July, 2012

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

Texas Prison System Increases Prisoners’ Monthly Phone Minutes by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke In 2007, when Texas became the last state in the nation to let prisoners make phone calls on a regular basis, the limit on phone usage was 120 minutes a month. [See: PLN, Nov. 2007, p.11]. …

Missouri Court Finds Prisoner Phone Contract Bidding Process Unfair

Article • July 15, 2012 • from PLN July, 2012

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

Missouri Court Finds Prisoner Phone Contract Bidding Process Unfair by On November 30, 2011, a Missouri circuit court held that adding optional services to the state’s prisoner telephone ...

Iowa Supreme Court Holds Billing for Fraudulent Prisoner Phone Calls Not a State Law Violation

Article • June 15, 2012 • from PLN June, 2012

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Iowa Supreme Court Holds Billing for Fraudulent Prisoner Phone Calls Not a State Law Violation by On October 14, 2011 the Iowa Supreme Court held that a prison telephone company did ...

From the Editor

Article • June 15, 2012 • from PLN June, 2012

Filed under: Editorials, Telephones, Telephone Rates

From the Editor by Paul Wright For the past 22 years, PLN has been at the forefront of reporting on the gouging of prisoners’ families by prisons, jails and the telecommunications industry as prisoncrats and corporations profit by charging families exorbitant phone rates for the ability to communicate with their …

Eighth Circuit Affirms No First Amendment Right to Lower Prison Phone Rates

Article • May 15, 2012 • from PLN May, 2012

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

Breault filed a civil rights action in federal court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that excessive contractual kickbacks resulted in high telephone rates for prisoners in the Arkansas Department ...

Court Finds Pennsylvania Jail’s Phone Bidding Process was Rigged; Contract Awarded to Another Company

Article • April 15, 2012 • from PLN April, 2012

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

Court Finds Pennsylvania Jail’s Phone Bidding Process was Rigged; Contract Awarded to Another Company by The bidding process used to select the telephone contractor for Pennsylvania’s ...

South Carolina Crime Stoppers Snitch Line Scammed

Article • March 15, 2012 • from PLN March, 2012

Filed under: Crime/Demographics, Crime, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

South Carolina Crime Stoppers Snitch Line Scammed by Brandon Sample Most people are familiar with Crime Stoppers, the “snitch line” for individuals with information about crimes. Successful tips can result in benefits to the tipster – which can take the form of cash, leniency with a new case or a …

Prison Phone Rates Under Scrutiny by Louisiana Regulatory Agency

Article • February 15, 2012 • from PLN February, 2012

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Prison Phone Rates Under Scrutiny by Louisiana Regulatory Agency by The Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) is examining the rates for phone calls made by prisoners. To help it in that determination, the PSC has hired outside counsel to analyze rates, review regulations and compare them with other states to …

Private Equity Firms Profit Handsomely from Prison Phone Services

Article • February 15, 2012 • from PLN February, 2012

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

Private Equity Firms Profit Handsomely from Prison Phone Services by The October 2011 sale of Global Tel*Link Corp. (GTL), the nation’s largest prison and jail phone company, demonstrates what a goldmine prison phone services are for the provider side of the market. The sale, reportedly valued at $1 billion, was …

California Criminalizes Cell Phone Smuggling, Seeks Technology to Block Cell Phone Calls from Prisons

Article • January 15, 2012 • from PLN January, 2012

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates, Cell Phone Access

. The law provides that “a person who possesses with the intent to deliver, or delivers [to prisoners] any cel-lular telephone or other wireless communication device or any component thereof ...” is subject ...

Recording of Nashville, Tennessee Jail Prisoners’ Attorney Calls Criticized

Article • December 15, 2011 • from PLN December, 2011

Filed under: Attorneys, Attorney Client, Attorney Calls, Telephone Monitoring

Recording of Nashville, Tennessee Jail Prisoners’ Attorney Calls Criticized by In February 2011 it was revealed that the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee had recorded ...

Florida Jail Offers Video Visits to Profiteer More From Prisoner Families

Article • November 15, 2011 • from PLN November, 2011

Filed under: Computers, Telephones, Telephone Rates

Florida Jail Offers Video Visits to Profiteer More From Prisoner Families by A video visitation system has been installed at Florida’s Charlotte County Jail. Using money from the Inmate Welfare Fund, which is derived from profits from the canteen and other services to prisoners, the jail installed a system that …

$370,000 in Annual Phone Revenue at Ohio Jail

Article • November 15, 2011 • from PLN November, 2011

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

ones is actually called “giving.” When asked by the Dayton Daily News about prisoners’ telephone access in Montgomery County, Major Daryl Wilson explained, “We give them as many calls as they need ...

Suit Challenging Election Surveillance May Go Forward, Second Circuit Decides

Article • November 15, 2011

Filed under: Searches, Computer Searches, Police Searches, Telephone Monitoring

Suit Challenging Election Surveillance May Go Forward, Second Circuit Decides by A lawsuit challenging the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments of 2008 (FAA) may proceed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided March 21, 2011. The lower court dismissed the suit on standing grounds. Amnesty International, with …

Right to Counsel Not Violated by Brig Officials Present During Attorney Phone Calls

Article • November 15, 2011

Filed under: Attorney Calls, Military, Military Law

Right to Counsel Not Violated by Brig Officials Present During Attorney Phone Calls by On May 1, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Services affirmed a lower court’s judgment rejecting a service member’s claim that he was denied the right to appellate counsel because brig officials were …

California DOC Officials Enjoy Absolute Immunity From Tort Liability Under Civil Code

Article • September 15, 2011

Filed under: Private Prisons, Marantha Private Corrections, Telephone Rates, Judicial Immunity

), the same contractor that CDCR uses in its prisons. As in its prison contract, Global paid a hefty kickback from excess profits built into its prisoner-only telephone rate. CDCR transfers its Global kickback ...

Texas Prison Phones and Emails Generate Less Revenue Than Expected

Article • August 15, 2011 • from PLN August, 2011

Filed under: Computers, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

Texas Prison Phones and Emails Generate Less Revenue Than Expected by When the Texas legislature passed SB 1580 in 2007, requiring the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to install phones in state prisons, Texas was the only state that did not allow prisoners to make regular phone calls. Even …