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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 …

Washington State Regulatory Agency Finds AT&T Failed to Disclose Prison Collect Call Rates

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

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Disclosure of Records, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

is significant because it indicates that AT&T may be held liable for abusive practices associated with the provision of telephone services at Washington State prisons. As reported in PLN’s April 2011 cover story ...

Jail Phone Calls Monitored Without Warning Inadmissible In New Mexico

Article • July 15, 2011

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Monitoring

handbook passed Out to prisoners, lectures or discussions regarding telephone monitoring and forms indicating the monitoring policy signed by the prisoner are adequate warning. In this case ...

Low Rates in Michigan DOC Phone Contract Demonstrate Actual Cost of Prison Phone Services

Article • July 15, 2011 • from PLN July, 2011

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Low Rates in Michigan DOC Phone Contract Demonstrate Actual Cost of Prison Phone Services by Alex Friedmann PLN’s April 2011 cover story detailed the results of our comprehensive multi-year research project on prison phone services, including a state-by-state comparison of prison phone rates, commission (kickback) percentages, and the amounts of …

Federal Cell Phone Ban Becomes Law; California Bill Vetoed, then Re-Introduced

Article • June 15, 2011 • from PLN June, 2011

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Federal Legislation

of the bill. A report on the effectiveness of the new federal law is due by August 2011. The report will also address the prison telephone rates charged by the BOP. [See: PLN, April 2011, p.1]. The California ...

Nationwide PLN Survey Examines Prison Phone Contracts, Kickbacks

Article • April 15, 2011 • from PLN April, 2011

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Crime/Demographics, Statistics/Trends, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, PLN Litigation

, Wisconsin transferred all its prisoners to a different CCA facility. [See: PLN, March 2004, p.14]. “We find it hard to believe that they would shut down the prison over telephone rates. We had no interest ...

Some Agencies Balk at Releasing Prison Phone Data

Article • April 15, 2011 • from PLN April, 2011

Filed under: Disclosure of Records, Federal Statutory Law, Freedom of Information Act, Telephone Rates

Some Agencies Balk at Releasing Prison Phone Data by Michael Rigby by Mike Rigby It is common knowledge among PLN readers that prison and jail phone rates are priced far above those in the free world. But just how overpriced are they? What is the average kickback (commission) rate provided …

Short-Lived Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Global Tel*Link in California, Then Secretly Settled

Article • March 15, 2011 • from PLN March, 2011

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Class Certification, Telephone Rates

Short-Lived Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Global Tel*Link in California, Then Secretly Settled by Michael Brodheim by Mike Brodheim Sick and tired of being gouged by high prison phone rates, Nadia Alvarez and Rachel Fishenfeld, two California residents, filed a consumer class action suit against Global Tel*Link (GTL) in August …

New Epidemic: Contraband Cell Phones in Prison Cells

Article • February 15, 2011 • from PLN February, 2011

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, Telephone Access, Cell Phone Access

New Epidemic: Contraband Cell Phones in Prison Cells by Mark Wilson For decades, prison officials across the U.S. have lined their pockets with multi-million dollar kickbacks from telephone ...

Homeland Security Inspector General’s Report Finds Additional Controls Needed to Ensure Prisoners’ Access to Phones at ICE Facilities

Article • February 15, 2011 • from PLN February, 2011

Filed under: Immigration, Telephones, Telephone Access

the financial data they are required to review. A 2007 audit by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) also found pervasive problems at ICE facilities related to telephone access by immigrant detainees ...

Washington Commission Finds AT&T is Prison Collect Call Provider

Article • December 15, 2010 • from PLN December, 2010

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

); and CenturyTel Telephone Utilities, Inc. (CenturyTel), in the Superior Court of Washington for King County. Plaintiffs alleged that between June 1996 and December 31, 2000, they received collect calls from ...

Reach Out and Defraud Someone: Oregon Jail Prisoners Commit Phone Scams

Article • November 15, 2010 • from PLN November, 2010

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

Reach Out and Defraud Someone: Oregon Jail Prisoners Commit Phone Scams by Mark Wilson A fifteen-minute collect call from the Multnomah County jail in Portland, Oregon costs $2.35, billed to the party who accepts the call. Between May 2006 and April 2009 those calls generated $3.5 million in revenue for …

Exorbitant Prisoner Phone Rates Pass New York Constitutional Scrutiny

Article • August 15, 2010 • from PLN August, 2010

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

– affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit arguing that the contract between the New York State Department of Correctional Services (NYDOCS) and MCI Worldcom Communications for prison telephone services violated ...

Alternative Prisoner Phone Service Company Files Unsuccessful Suit

Article • May 15, 2010 • from PLN May, 2010

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Civil Procedure, State Law Claims, Administrative Exhaustion, Telephone Rates

of the nation’s largest prison and jail telephone service providers filed a federal lawsuit alleging violation of the Federal Communications Act. The suit was filed by Millicorp, a Florida-based company ...