Search | Prison Phone Justice

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 …

Despite Suicides, Jails Replace In-person Visitation with Video Screens

Article • March 6, 2018 • from PLN March, 2018

Filed under: Jail Specific, Telephones, Suicides, Visiting, Video Visitation

center once a week remains their only option. Rates for telephone calls, video visits and other communications services in jails and prisons are extremely high compared to the free world. Couloute said ...

Mississippi Attorney General Settles with Third Company in Epps Bribery Scandal

Article • March 6, 2018 • from PLN March, 2018

Filed under: Private Prisons, Attorneys General, Telephones

Mississippi Attorney General Settles with Third Company in Epps Bribery Scandal by Monte McCoin by Monte McCoin PLN has previously covered the continuing fallout from a massive bribery scandal involving former Mississippi DOC Commissioner Christopher B. Epps, including RICO lawsuits filed by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood against several companies …

Sufficient Facts for Discrimination Hearing

Article • February 8, 2018

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Conditions of Confinement, Americans with Disabilities Act, Telephone Access

Sufficient Facts for Discrimination Hearing by David Reutter by David Reutter A Colorado federal district court held that deaf prisoners and prisoners in contact with deaf persons alleged sufficient facts to survive dismissal of the Americans with Disabilities Act claim. The court said the prison’s archaic, faulty communication system for …

French Officials to Install Phones in 50,000 Prison Cells

Article • January 31, 2018 • from PLN February, 2018

Filed under: Prison Reform, Telephone Access

, on January 2, 2018, French officials opened the bidding process for a telecom provider to install landline telephones in each of 50,000 cells in 178 prisons. The justice ministry said the program was being ...

Maine DOC's Dirty Trick in Prisoner Lawsuit Challenging Food and Phone

Article • December 26, 2017

Filed under: Food, Telephones

okie-doked prisoner Kevin J. Collins out of $150 in his lawsuit challenging food services and the prison's telephone system. Collins filed his lawsuit appealing the denial of his grievances in December ...

WA: Jail Phone Conversations Not Private, May Be Used By Prosecutors

Article • December 13, 2017

Filed under: Jail Specific, Privacy Act, Telephone Monitoring

was still in jail. Their conversations were recorded by the jail's telephone system. According to court documents, the recordings "provided evidence of Dare's complicity in the robbery and were used ...

Georgia Prison Contraband Investigation Nets 130 Arrests, Guilty Pleas

Article • November 7, 2017 • from PLN November, 2017

Filed under: Crime, War on Drugs, Telephones

Georgia Prison Contraband Investigation Nets 130 Arrests, Guilty Pleas by David Reutter by David M. Reutter About 130 people have been arrested following a joint two-year investigation by the FBI and the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDOC). Indictments for 75 of the arrestees were announced in September 2015; another 46 …

$250,000 Paid By Virginia Jail to Settle Deaf Prisoner Suit

Article • November 7, 2017 • from PLN November, 2017

Filed under: Deaf Prisoners, Jail Specific, Telephone Access

$250,000 Paid By Virginia Jail to Settle Deaf Prisoner Suit by In December 2016, a $250,000 settlement was reached in a lawsuit brought by a deaf prisoner who was effectively unable to communicate during a six-week stay at a jail in Arlington County, Virginia. The suit pushed the sheriff’s office …

From the Editor

Article • November 6, 2017 • from PLN November, 2017

Filed under: Editorials, Conditions of Confinement, Money/Property, Prison Rape Elimination Act, Telephones, Telephone Rates

From the Editor by Paul Wright by Paul Wright By now all PLN subscribers should have received our fundraiser mailing which includes our 2016 annual report and details our many activities, ranging from publishing and litigation to advocacy and media outreach. This provides a great overview of the depth and …

Global Tel*Link Fails to Derail Prison Phone Suit but Dodges Class Certification

Article • November 6, 2017 • from PLN November, 2017

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

Global Tel*Link Fails to Derail Prison Phone Suit but Dodges Class Certification by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna An order entered by Western District of Arkansas federal judge Timothy L. Brooks on September 28, 2017 gave a mixed result to both sides in a hotly-contested lawsuit over excessive costs for …

Profiting Off Mass Incarceration: Detroit Pistons Owner Buys Private Prison Phone Company

Article • October 10, 2017 • from PLN October, 2017

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Statistics/Trends, Telephone Rates

Profiting Off Mass Incarceration: Detroit Pistons Owner Buys Private Prison Phone Company by Brian Dolinar by Brian Dolinar, Truthout The election of Donald Trump has already given an economic boost to those profiting from mass incarceration. The stock prices of the two biggest private prison builders – CoreCivic (formerly Corrections …

Former Mississippi DOC Commissioner, Co-defendants Sentenced in Massive Bribery Scheme

Article • October 9, 2017 • from PLN October, 2017

Filed under: Government Misconduct, Telephone Rates

then-Mississippi DOC Commissioner Christopher B. Epps a portion of the money he earned as a prison telephone contractor. Waggoner told federal agents that before their investigation started, he wrote ...

More Prisons Banning In-Person Visits, Adding To Securus Tech's Pile Of Cash

Article • October 4, 2017

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Video Visitation

More Prisons Banning In-Person Visits, Adding To Securus Tech's Pile Of Cash by Tim Cushing by Tim Cushing From the it's-ok-because-prisoners-aren't-human-beings,-amirite dept Jails and prisons continue to sacrifice what few physical interactions prisoners have with loved ones on the outside to phone service provider Securus. The New Orleans Advocate reports …