Search | Prison Phone Justice

Los Angeles County Makes Jail Phone Calls Free

Article • June 1, 2024 • from PLN June, 2024

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Los Angeles County Makes Jail Phone Calls Free by On December 1, 2023, phone calls became free for detainees and prisoners in Los Angeles County jails. The county’s Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on November 22, 2023, to amend the existing phone service contract with ViaPath Technologies—formerly Global Tel*Link (GTL)—to …

“Third Time Is Not the Charm” For Texas Jailers Barred by PLRA from Enforcing Prior Settlement Agreement Against Prisoner in New Suit

Article • May 1, 2024 • from PLN May, 2024

Filed under: Jail Specific, PLRA, Settlements, Attorney Calls, Civil Settlement - Effect of, Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), Wiretaps/Wiretap Evidence

“Third Time Is Not the Charm” For Texas Jailers Barred by PLRA from Enforcing Prior Settlement Agreement Against Prisoner in New Suit by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On January 12, 2024, the federal court for the Western District of Texas refused a motion by Williamson County Correctional Facility (WCCF) …

Fourth Circuit Reinstates HRDC’s RICO Claim Against Securus and ViaPath

Article • May 1, 2024 • from PLN May, 2024

Filed under: RICO, Telephone Rates, Civil RICO, HRDC Litigation, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

Fourth Circuit Reinstates HRDC’s RICO Claim Against Securus and ViaPath by On June 4, 2023, a request for a rehearing en banc before the entire U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit was denied in a suit accusing prison telecom providers Securus Technologies and Global Tel*Link (GTL)—now known as …

Massachusetts Makes Calls Free From Prisons and Jails

Article • May 1, 2024 • from PLN May, 2024

Filed under: Telephone Rates

Massachusetts Makes Calls Free From Prisons and Jails by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed H. 1796 on November 15, 2023, making hers the fifth state in the nation to eliminate fees for prison and jail phone calls. When the law took effect on December 1, 2023, the state joined Connecticut, …

Florida County Makes Free Jail Phone Calls Available

Article • April 1, 2024 • from PLN April, 2024

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

Florida County Makes Free Jail Phone Calls Available by On October 1, 2023, phone calls became free for some 860 jail detainees at the jail in Florida’s Alachua County, whose Board of Commissioners voted for the change six months earlier. That brought the cost from 21 cents per minute to …

Minnesota Prison on Lockdown After Protest Over Dirty Water, Lack of Phone Use and Out-of-Cell Time

Article • March 1, 2024 • from PLN March, 2024

Filed under: Protests, Exercise, Showers, Water, Lockdowns, Telephone Access

Minnesota Prison on Lockdown After Protest Over Dirty Water, Lack of Phone Use and Out-of-Cell Time by Over Labor Day weekend 2023, approximately 100 prisoners refused to return to their cells at Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF) in Stillwater. They were protesting limited access to showers, phones and recreation, which the …

Massachusetts Becomes the Fifth State to Make Prison Phone Calls Free

Article • March 1, 2024 • from PLN March, 2024

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Private Phone Contractors

Massachusetts Becomes the Fifth State to Make Prison Phone Calls Free by Until December 1, 2023, Massachusetts prisoners and their families paid 12 cents per minute for phone calls, 14 cents in jails, though the first 10 minutes there every month were free. That added up to about $25 million …

Ninth Circuit Revives Challenge by Federal Prisoner in Arizona to BOP’s 300-Minute Monthly Phone Cap

Article • February 1, 2024 • from PLN February, 2024

Filed under: Retaliatory Transfers, Telephone Access

prison subjected him to agency policy that limits prisoners to 300 minutes (5 hours) per month of phone time absent “good cause.” See: BOP Program Statement P5264.08: Inmate Telephone ...

Compensation Awarded to California Non-Profit and HRDC Officials for Efforts Reducing Prison Phone Rates

Article • December 1, 2023 • from PLN December, 2023

Filed under: Advocacy, Telephone Rates, 18-B Compensation

the scope of PUC’s rulemaking beyond “text telephones” for prisoners with hearing-related disabilities to include VoIP (voice over internet protocol) services. When seeking compensation ...

Minnesota Makes All Calls Free in Prisons and Jails

Article • November 15, 2023 • from PLN November, 2023

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephone Rates, Family, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

Minnesota Makes All Calls Free in Prisons and Jails by On May 19, 2023, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed into law SF 2909, the Judiciary and Public Safety budget bill. Introduced by two Democratic state lawmakers, Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten and Rep. Esther Agbaje, the measure made calls free …

Colorado One of Four States Making Phone Calls Free for Prisoners

Article • October 15, 2023 • from PLN October, 2023

Filed under: Telephone Rates

Colorado One of Four States Making Phone Calls Free for Prisoners by On June 7, 2023, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed House Bill (HB) 23-1133, requiring the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to provide, administer and – most importantly – not to profit from communications services used by prisoners. …

As e-Messaging Takes Off in U.S. Prisons, Complaints Over Service and Costs Multiply

Article • September 15, 2023 • from PLN September, 2023

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Electronically Stored Information, Prison Mail

As e-Messaging Takes Off in U.S. Prisons, Complaints Over Service and Costs Multiply by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Historically, prisoners have been largely left out of the technology wave changing the way the rest of the world communicates and does business. It wasn’t until March 2009 that the …

Sheriffs Offered Caribbean Cruises and Florida Retreats As Part Of Jail Telecom Contracts

Article • September 15, 2023 • from PLN September, 2023

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephones, Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors

Sheriffs Offered Caribbean Cruises and Florida Retreats As Part Of Jail Telecom Contracts by Hayden Betts by Hayden Betts Members of five sheriff’s offices across the country were offered cruises from “Tampa Bay to the Caribbean” as part of jail telecommunications contracts with the vendor Smart Communications, according to documents …

Prolonged COVID-19 Visitation Restrictions Net Georgia Jails Over $1.5 Million in Telecom Kickbacks

Article • August 15, 2023 • from PLN August, 2023

Filed under: COVID-19, Cost of Prison Systems, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephone Rates, Video Visitation

Prolonged COVID-19 Visitation Restrictions Net Georgia Jails Over $1.5 Million in Telecom Kickbacks by Jordan Arizmendi by Jordan Arizmendi According to a report by the Georgia Current on April 14, 2023, jails in several of the state’s coastal counties were still profiting by extending COVID-19 visitation bans, forcing detainees and …

Prison Profiteer Who Chairs Christian Seminary Board Called Not Very ‘Christlike’

Article • August 15, 2023 • from PLN August, 2023

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephone Rates, Fraud and Deceit

Prison Profiteer Who Chairs Christian Seminary Board Called Not Very ‘Christlike’ by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss Members of Princeton Theological Seminarians for Peace and Justice (SPJ) sent a letter on March 14, 2023, calling for resignation of seminary Board of Trustees Chairman Michael Fisch. After learning Fisch’s hedge …

FCC Granted Broader Authority to Regulate Prisoner Call Costs

Article • July 15, 2023 • from PLN July, 2023

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Global Tel*Link Corp

FCC Granted Broader Authority to Regulate Prisoner Call Costs by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman On March 16, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to begin rule-making to implement the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022. Named after a determined woman who tirelessly campaigned to lower …

California Appeals Court Affirms Rate Caps and Fee Limitations for Prison Telecoms

Article • July 15, 2023 • from PLN July, 2023

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors, Securus

Court of Appeal Makes Its Ruling To begin, the Court noted that the state Supreme Court said in The Ponderosa Telephone Co. v. Public Utilities Com., 36 Cal.App.5th 999 (2019), that there is a &ldquo ...

FCC Requires Prison Telecoms to Provide Services for Deaf Prisoners

Article • July 15, 2023 • from PLN July, 2023

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Americans with Disabilities Act, Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors

calls, which allow direct communication between two signing people. It also covers video relay services, a three-way system that allows a deaf user to sign to a speaking interpreter. Captioning telephones ...

Telecoms Exploiting Legal Loopholes to Price Gouge Prisoners and Their Families

Article • May 1, 2023 • from PLN May, 2023

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

Telecoms Exploiting Legal Loopholes to Price Gouge Prisoners and Their Families by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett According to a report published by the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) on December 15, 2022, for-profit telecom companies are using loopholes in the law to price-gouge prisoners and their families on the cost …

California Makes Calls Free for State Prisoners and Juvenile Detainees, Prohibits Telecom Kickbacks to Prisons and Jails

Article • April 1, 2023 • from PLN April, 2023

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders, Kickback Scheme

California Makes Calls Free for State Prisoners and Juvenile Detainees, Prohibits Telecom Kickbacks to Prisons and Jails by Benjamin Tschirhart by Benjamin Tschirhart On September 29, 2022, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed S.B. 1008 into law, barring government agencies in the state from collecting any part of the revenue …