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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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 …

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 …

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 ...

Third-Party Calling Disconnects at Jail Net $1.25 Million Settlement; Customers Get Nothing

Article • February 15, 2010 • from PLN February, 2010

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

Third-Party Calling Disconnects at Jail Net $1.25 Million Settlement; Customers Get Nothing by by David M. Reutter When it comes to prison and jail telephone services, it’s all about how ...

Mississippi Prisoners Make Collect Call for Jesus

Article • October 15, 2009 • from PLN October, 2009

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

collected from prisoner telephone calls to fund a Jail and Prison Ministry. Since the late 1990s, the Good News Jail and Prison Ministry has provided church services at the Lauderdale County Jail, funded ...

Audit Finds California Prison Receiver Broke State Law by Making No-Bid Contracts with Verizon

Article • September 15, 2009 • from PLN September, 2009

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Telephones, Telephone Rates

telephone and data lines. While the audit concluded that the state could not be certain that Prison Health Care Services had spent $26.7 million in public funds “prudently” or that it had received the test ...