Search | Prison Phone Justice

Free Phone Calls for Juvenile Offenders Jailed in Memphis, Tennessee

Article • March 5, 2019 • from PLN March, 2019

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Access, Juveniles

Free Phone Calls for Juvenile Offenders Jailed in Memphis, Tennessee by Kevin W. Bliss by Kevin Bliss In November 2018, Shelby County, Tennessee – which includes the City of Memphis – renegotiated its contract with Global Tel*Link (GTL), the phone service provider for around 5,000 prisoners at the county’s four …

Imagine Pleading Guilty Because You Can’t Afford to Call Your Lawyer

Article • February 19, 2019

Filed under: Jail Specific, Money/Property, Telephone Rates, First Amendment, rights

Imagine Pleading Guilty Because You Can’t Afford to Call Your Lawyer by Victoria Law By Victoria Law, Truthout Imagine paying $20.12 for a 15-minute phone call. That’s how much a call from the Jennings Adult Correctional Facility in Missouri costs. In 2013, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set price caps …

Texas Prison System Cuts Phone Rates Over 75 Percent; Rates Drop in Other States, Too

Article • February 6, 2019 • from PLN February, 2019

Filed under: Telephone Rates

for attorney calls, and collected almost $1.5 million a year in “commission” kickbacks. The new law requires the state’s Jail Standards Board to establish criteria to prohibit such excessive ...

New York City Council Passes Ordinance to Make All Jail Phone Calls Free

Article • December 5, 2018 • from PLN December, 2018

Filed under: Telephone Rates

. The legislation passed by the City Council states: “The city shall provide telephone services to individuals within the custody of the department in city correctional facilities at no cost to the individuals ...

New Jersey Federal Court Certifies Class-Action Suit Against Global*Tel Link

Article • December 5, 2018 • from PLN December, 2018

Filed under: Class Certification, Telephone Rates

purchased from telecom providers for as little as $.00018 per minute.... Because GTL’s contracts with the DOC and counties were exclusive, Plaintiffs – unlike normal telephone users – could ...

Washington State: Jail Phone Rates Increase as Video Replaces In-Person Visits

Article • October 12, 2018 • from PLN October, 2018

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Visiting, Video Visitation

to visit.” However, Benton County’s decision to end face-to-face visits came under fire from the American Bar Association (ABA). The ABA, the chief professional organization for attorneys, called ...

Despite Lack of FCC Action, States Can Still Make Prison and Jail Calls Affordable

Article • September 4, 2018 • from PLN September, 2018

Filed under: Telephone Rates

of Bristol County, Massachusetts and Securus Technologies, Inc. The suit seeks to “end an illegal kickback scheme orchestrated by the Defendants that has nearly doubled the cost of telephone calls made ...

Criticism of Commission-based Phone Contract at Pennsylvania County Prison

Article • August 8, 2018 • from PLN August, 2018

Filed under: Telephone Rates

*Link (GTL), one of the nation’s largest prison and jail telephone service providers, has contracted with the York County Prison under a “commission” arrangement that provides kickbacks ...

Massachusetts County Faces Lawsuit Over Phone Fee Kickbacks

Article • August 8, 2018 • from PLN August, 2018

Filed under: Telephone Rates

Massachusetts County Faces Lawsuit Over Phone Fee Kickbacks by Monte McCoin by Monte McCoin On May 2, 2018, attorneys with Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), the Legal Services Center at Harvard Law School and the law firm of Bailey & Glasser LLP filed a …

Alaska Jail Recorded Attorney-client Conversations for Four Years

Article • August 8, 2018 • from PLN August, 2018

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Attorney Client, Attorney Calls, Telephone Monitoring

Alaska Jail Recorded Attorney-client Conversations for Four Years by Monte McCoin by Monte McCoin On January 15, 2018, the Anchorage Daily News reported that, from 2012 to 2016, confidential conversations between criminal defendants and their attorneys were routinely recorded by a long-abandoned audio monitoring system in a visitation room at …

Federal Judge Dismisses Class-action Suits Over Jail Phone Rates, Commissions

Article • August 8, 2018 • from PLN August, 2018

Filed under: Telephone Rates

governments as defendants and, according to the court, “the Ninth Circuit has not recognized an independent right to telephone access for inmates” that could be impeded by government action. Even ...

The Prison Phone Industry Has Quietly Become Even More of a Duopoly

Article • July 1, 2018 • from PLN July, 2018

Filed under: Statistics/Trends, Telephone Rates

Securus’ telephone system at his jail to obtain location data on cell phone customers without a court order. Put another way, Securus’ platform can be abused by law enforcement officials to spy ...

Lawsuits Filed, Renewed Push to Block Cell Phones After Deadly South Carolina Prison Riot

Article • July 1, 2018 • from PLN July, 2018

Filed under: Prison Rebellion, Cell Phone Access

Lawsuits Filed, Renewed Push to Block Cell Phones After Deadly South Carolina Prison Riot by Steve Horn by Steve Horn In the two months following an April 15, 2018 riot at the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, South Carolina that left seven prisoners dead and at least 22 injured, the …

Exclusive! Prison Legal News Interviews South Carolina DOC Director Bryan Stirling

Article • June 27, 2018

Filed under: Interviews, Cell Phone Access

to sanctions on visitation and telephone use and things of that nature, so that’s a process we’ve gone through recently too. SH: To get back to my initial interest in this, which is the FCC Task ...

Mississippi DOC Announces Phone Rate Cuts

Article • June 8, 2018 • from PLN June, 2018

Filed under: Telephone Rates

Mississippi DOC Announces Phone Rate Cuts by Monte McCoin by Monte McCoin The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) announced on March 17, 2018 that phone calls from state prisons would be less expensive for prisoners and their families, effective immediately. “The reduced rate will make services even more accessible and …

Nebraska Sheriffs Profiting from Jail Phone Contracts

Article • May 9, 2018 • from PLN May, 2018

Filed under: Telephone Rates

Nebraska Sheriffs Profiting from Jail Phone Contracts by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis The ACLU of Nebraska issued a report on November 30, 2017 detailing the cost of telephone ...

Exclusive: Photos Show Aftermath of Lethal South Carolina Prison Brawl that Left Seven Dead

Article • April 17, 2018

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates

Exclusive: Photos Show Aftermath of Lethal South Carolina Prison Brawl that Left Seven Dead by Steve Horn by Steve Horn WARNING: This article contains graphic images. Photos obtained by Prison Legal News appear to reveal the bloody aftermath of a riot that occurred at the Lee Correctional Institution in South …

Securus Fined $1.7 Million for Providing Inaccurate Information, FCC Approves Company Transfer Anyway

Article • April 2, 2018 • from PLN April, 2018

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Telephone Rates

Securus Fined $1.7 Million for Providing Inaccurate Information, FCC Approves Company Transfer Anyway by Christopher Zoukis by Christopher Zoukis The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) slapped Securus Technologies with a $1.7 million fine for providing misleading and inaccurate information as part of its application to transfer control to another company, but …

Tablets and E-messaging Services Expand in Prisons and Jails, as do Fees

Article • April 2, 2018 • from PLN April, 2018

Filed under: Computers, Telephone Access

Tablets and E-messaging Services Expand in Prisons and Jails, as do Fees by Matthew Clarke, Edward Lyon by Matt Clarke and Ed Lyon Global Tel*Link (GTL), one of the largest prison and jail phone service providers in the United States, has steadily expanded into other services that target corrections agencies. …

Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Deaf Former Prisoner’s ADA Claims

Article • April 2, 2018 • from PLN April, 2018

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Interpreters, Telephone Access

Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Deaf Former Prisoner’s ADA Claims by Jail officials “may not turn a blind eye to a deaf ear,” the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit fittingly declared in an August 31, 2017 ruling that reversed a summary judgment order in a lawsuit filed by …