Search | Prison Phone Justice

Florida Utilities Commission Refunds Phone Kickbacks

Article • September 15, 1996 • from PLN September, 1996

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

Florida Utilities Commission Refunds Phone Kickbacks by The June, 1996, issue of PLN reported that the contract to provide phone services to Florida state prisoners was awarded without competitive bidding in circumstances strongly suggesting corruption. Since 1987 Florida prisoners have been allowed to make collect calls to friends and families, …

Phone Activist Seeks Info

Article • September 15, 1996 • from PLN September, 1996

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

in her cell for the night, but calls were also made during daytime and nighttime cell counts. Although they were on my telephone bills, they were not (could not have been) placed by my friend nor received ...

Washington Legislation Passed

Article • July 15, 1996 • from PLN July, 1996

Filed under: Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Victims, Costs, Three Strikes, Telephones, Telephone Monitoring, Death Penalty, State Legislation

into law: HB 2195: This law modifies RCW 9.73.095 and allows for the electronic monitoring of all telephonic and non-telephonic conversations in prison living units, cells, rooms, dormitories and common ...

Prisoner Accounts Add Up to Millions

Article • July 15, 1996 • from PLN July, 1996

Filed under: Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephones, Telephone Rates

Prisoner Accounts Add Up to Millions by The U.S. prison population has tripled in the last fifteen years and now stands at well over a million. But the number of bodies is not the only statistic that has grown. According to the Newhouse News Service, 1995 saw record sums of …

Massachusetts Phone Injunction Affirmed

Article • July 15, 1996 • from PLN July, 1996

Filed under: Settlements, Injunctions, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Telephones, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring

Massachusetts Phone Injunction Affirmed by The court of appeals for the first circuit affirmed a district court's contempt finding against prison officials concerning the monitoring and taping of prisoners' phone calls. In 1979 William Langton and David LeBlanc filed suit against Massachusetts prison officials over the interception and monitoring of …

Phone Graft in Florida

Article • June 15, 1996 • from PLN June, 1996

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

Phone Graft in Florida by Competing telephone companies submitted bids to provide "inmate phone services" to 35 Florida prisons. The contract was awarded to North American Intelecom (NAI ...

Nevada Utilities Commission Caps Prison Phone Rates

Article • June 15, 1996 • from PLN June, 1996

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

PSC approval was not needed due to telephone deregulation. The old rates (i.e., the legal rates) were 55 cents for an operator assisted call, which Sprint increased to $3 and then charged the regular ...

Washington Court Access Suit Settled

Article • February 15, 1996 • from PLN February, 1996

Filed under: Transfers, Attorney Fee Awards, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Legal Materials, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Photocopies, Settlements, Telephones, Attorney Calls, Legal Mail

in their cell or other assigned area. Attorney Calls: Prison phones in Washington are recorded and monitored. To make what is purported to be an unrecorded call prisoners must submit a form requesting to make ...

Detainee States Claim for Retaliation and Med Needs

Article • December 15, 1995 • from PLN December, 1995

Filed under: Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Pain, Skeletal Injury, Strip Cells, Bedding, Attorney Client, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Telephones, Telephone Access, Attorney Calls

on a detainee's telephone privileges that prevented him from contacting his attorney violate the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Tucker v. Randall, 948 F.2d 388, 390-91 (7th Cir. 1991)." Murphy claimed that he ...

NV Phone Rate Scalping Examined

Article • July 15, 1995 • from PLN July, 1995

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

will be taken. A proposed plan calls for caps on telephone rates charged to those who use phones in Nevada jails and prisons. Under the proposal, companies providing those phone services could charge no more ...

9th Circuit Affirms Court Access Case

Article • June 15, 1995 • from PLN June, 1995

Filed under: Law Library Access/Adequacy, Photocopies, Injunctions, Interpreters, Telephones, Attorney Calls

9th Circuit Affirms Court Access Case by In a wide ranging ruling, a unanimous panel of the ninth circuit court of appeals affirmed most of a lower court ruling designed to ensure Arizona prisoners' right of access to the courts. In the May 1994 issue of PLN we reported Casey …

6th Cir. Rules on BOP Phone Suit PI

Article • March 15, 1995 • from PLN March, 1995

Filed under: Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Class Certification, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring

that challenges numerous aspects of the Inmate Telephone System (ITS) in the process of being installed at federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities across the country. Copies of the above issues of PLN are still ...

CT Phone Suit Filed

Article • February 15, 1995 • from PLN February, 1995

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Monitoring, Mail Regulations

. The suit claims that the CT lacks the authority to adopt the phone and mail regulations in question. The regulations in question limit non-monitored attorney calls to less than 10 minutes such calls are also ...

MA DOC Uses New Phone System

Article • November 15, 1994 • from PLN November, 1994

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

MA DOC Uses New Phone System by Paul Wright By Paul Wright As part of the nationwide trend towards more restrictive and more expensive prison phone systems, the Massachusetts DOC signed a contract with NYNEX on January 27, 1994, for the provision of phone services to Massachusetts prisons. The new …

BOP Phone Litigation Update

Article • November 15, 1994 • from PLN November, 1994

Filed under: Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Class Certification, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

to the appeals court the BOP claimed that elected officials, members of the court and media could be listed on prisoner's ITS phone lists. The plaintiff's attorney called the BOP's briefs incorrect and misleading ...

Phone Company State Actor for Section 1983

Article • May 15, 1994 • from PLN May, 1994

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Standing, Telephone Rates, Qualified Immunity, Contractor Liability

Phone Company State Actor for Section 1983 by Milton Griffin-El is a Missouri state prisoner. He filed suit against MCI Telecommunications Corporation and state prison officials over the phone company's practice of announcing to persons called by prisoners that the calls originated from a prison. The court upheld MCI's practice …

AZ DOC Denies Court Access

Article • May 15, 1994 • from PLN May, 1994

Filed under: Hygiene Supplies, Attorney Client, Prisoner Legal Assistance, Law Library Access/Adequacy, Photocopies, Special Masters, Interpreters, Telephones, Telephone Rates, Attorney Calls

held that the ADOC also denied prisoners' confidential attorney calls. The lack of a central policy allows individual prisons to set arbitrary standards which permit the improper denial of calls ...

LA Prisoners Boycott Phones

Article • April 15, 1994 • from PLN April, 1994

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Organizing, Prison Rebellion, Telephone Rates

it's rates and reimburse customers who had been overcharged since June 8, 1993. The Louisiana Public Service Commission ordered business' providing prisoner telephone service to provide the same ...

Double Celling Pre-Trial Detainees Violates Due Process

Article • April 15, 1994 • from PLN April, 1994

Filed under: Political Prisoners, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Overcrowding, Bedding, Telephones, Telephone Access, Qualified Immunity, Municipal Liability

include: double celling of pre-trial detainees, blanket strip and body cavity searches of all arrestees and restricted telephone access during the first 48 hours of captivity. In several cases ...

Court Enjoins BOP Phone System

Article • March 15, 1994 • from PLN March, 1994

Filed under: Preliminary Injunctions/TRO's, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Administrative Procedures Act (Federal), Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring, Federal Legislation

implementing its Inmate Telephone System (ITS). The case is Washington v. Reno, case number 93-217 and 93-290. Readers should note that so far this is an unpublished opinion that cannot be cited for precedent ...