Search | Prison Phone Justice

Digital Tablet Shift Brings Added Cost, Lost Data to Prisoners in California

Article • April 1, 2026 • from PLN April, 2026

Filed under: Computers, Prisoner Property, Telephone Rates, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

Digital Tablet Shift Brings Added Cost, Lost Data to Prisoners in California by Since 2023, nearly all of the more than 90,000 prisoners locked up by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) have been assigned a tablet that can make calls, receive messages, and access other apps. But …

More Than 40k 311 Calls From Rikers Go Into a Black Hole Every Year

Article • April 1, 2026 • from PLN April, 2026

Filed under: Failure to Treat, Totality of Conditions, Telephone Access, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Administrative Detention/Segregation

More Than 40k 311 Calls From Rikers Go Into a Black Hole Every Year by Reuven Blau, Kennedy Sessions by ReuvenBlau and KennedySessions This article was originally published in The City.   After visiting her son on Rikers Island last June, Benjamin Kelly’s mother dialed 311 in a panic. He …

Two Texas Women Charged for Using Plastic Crows in Smuggling Scheme

Article • April 1, 2026 • from PLN April, 2026

Filed under: Cell Phone Access, Conspiracies, Attempts, Solicitations, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Methamphetamine, Simple Possession/Personal Use versus Distribution

Two Texas Women Charged for Using Plastic Crows in Smuggling Scheme by Two women allegedly used drones and plastic crows filled with contraband in an attempt to smuggle contraband into the United States Penitentiary, Pollock (USP Pollock) in Grant Parish, Louisiana. Melanie Worthington, 38, and Kassy Cole, 41, were arrested …

FCC Releases Final Version of Order Gutting 2024 Phone Cap Regulations

Article • February 1, 2026 • from PLN February, 2026

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

FCC Releases Final Version of Order Gutting 2024 Phone Cap Regulations by Michael Thompson   by Michael Thompson   As reported in PLN, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had postponed a 2024 rule poised to reduce the financial burden for incarcerated people throughout the country. [See: PLN, Aug. 2025, p. …

Georgia Bristles at Federal Law that Prohibits Drone Interceptions

Article • January 1, 2026 • from PLN January, 2026

Filed under: Overcrowding, Staffing, Security Systems, Cell Phone Access, Authority and Jurisdiction

Georgia Bristles at Federal Law that Prohibits Drone Interceptions by The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that the Georgia Department of Corrections (DOC) prisons are buckling under a 15-year high incarceration rate, now exceeding 50,000, and projected to climb past 55,000 by 2030 due to tougher sentencing. Simultaneously, guard staffing …

An AI Model from Securus Aims to Expand Phone Call Monitoring

Article • December 1, 2025 • from PLN December, 2025

Filed under: Databases, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring, Electronic Surveillance, Securus

An AI Model from Securus Aims to Expand Phone Call Monitoring by In 2023, prison telecom company Securus Technologies began building AI tools using its expansive database of prisoners’ recorded phone calls. The idea was to create an AI model that could not only monitor live prison phone calls but …

Ten People Indicted in Three Separate Smuggling Schemes at a Maryland Prison

Article • December 1, 2025 • from PLN December, 2025

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Cell Phone Access, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Drug Laws/Offenses

Ten People Indicted in Three Separate Smuggling Schemes at a Maryland Prison by On December 1, 2025, state prosecutors announced that ten people—including three jail guards—were indicted on criminal charges related to three separate alleged smuggling schemes at the Jesup Correctional Institution (JCI) in Anne Arundel County. The first of …

The Succession Battle for a Prison Empire

Article • December 1, 2025 • from PLN December, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors

The Succession Battle for a Prison Empire by Katya Schwenk by Katya Schwenk The yacht is moored at the mouth of the Miami River, in the long shadows of the city’s luxury hotels and high-rises. It is of Italian design: sleek, imposing, with a flybridge and sundeck and five cabins, …

Colorado Children Sue County Jail to Fight Visitation Ban

Article • December 1, 2025 • from PLN December, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Video Visitation, Children of Prisoners, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Private Phone Contractors

Colorado Children Sue County Jail to Fight Visitation Ban by For years, the Adams County Detention Facility in Brighton has prohibited in-person visits. But in late October 2025, a group of three children—with the youngest just four years—are suing the Adams County Sheriff and HomeWAV, a telecommunications company, in hopes …

FCC Votes For Dramatic Hike to Prison Phone Call Rates

Article • November 1, 2025 • from PLN November, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring, Cell Phone Access, Video Visitation, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

;no other choice but to revert to 1980s-style supervised public pay telephones.” It wasn’t explained how that is bad for the detainees; a 15-minute local call on most payphones runs far less than ...

FCC Issues Proposed Rule Permitting Cellphone Jammers in Prisons and Jails

Article • November 1, 2025 • from PLN November, 2025

Filed under: Statistics/Trends, Telephone Rates, Cell Phone Access, Federal Legislation, Police State-Surveillance

FCC Issues Proposed Rule Permitting Cellphone Jammers in Prisons and Jails by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted on September 30, 2025, to issue a Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to relax the current ban on using cellphone “jamming” technology in prisons and jails. …

Albert v. GLOBAL TELLINK CORP, MD, Memorandum Opinion, Telephone Rates, 2025

Brief • October 15, 2025

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Telephones, Telephone Rates, Antitrust Offenses, Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing, etc., Kickback Scheme, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

Albert v. GLOBAL TELLINK CORP, MD, Memorandum Opinion, Telephone Rates, 2025 Case 8:20-cv-01936-LKG Document 487 Filed 10/15/25 Page 1 of 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT ...

Letter to FCC re Incarcerated People's Communication Services-09-15-2025

Publication • September 15, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Access, HRDC Sign on Letters, Prisoners' Rights, Global Tel*Link Corp

Letter to FCC re Incarcerated People's Communication Services-09-15-2025 September 15, 2025 Chairman Brendan Carr Commissioner Anna Gomez Commissioner Olivia Trusty Federal Communications Commission 50 L Street, NE Washington, DC 20554 Re: Incarcerated People’s Communications Services, WC Docket Nos. 23-62, 12-375 Dear Chairman Carr, Commissioners Gomez and Trusty: The ninety-five undersigned …

FCC Backtracks on 2024 Order to Cut  Prison Phone and Video Rates by Half

Article • August 1, 2025 • from PLN August, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Video Visitation, Private Phone Contractors, Securus

FCC Backtracks on 2024 Order to Cut Prison Phone and Video Rates by Half by On June 30, the Federal Communications Commission announced a two-year postponement of a rule to lower the price of phone and video calls in prisons and jails. As PLN reported, the FCC voted in 2024 …

HRDC Collaborates on Prison Telecom Cost Report  to Washington Lawmakers

Article • August 1, 2025 • from PLN August, 2025

Filed under: Electronic Tablets, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

HRDC Collaborates on Prison Telecom Cost Report to Washington Lawmakers by Chuck Sharman A report on prison telecom costs presented to state lawmakers in Washington on December 13, 2024, showed dramatic decreases nationwide in the price of calls from prisons and jails over the past decade. A similar drop was …

Ohio Sued by Non-Profit Law Firm  for Opening Prisoner Legal Mail

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Attorney Client, Legal Materials, Attorney Calls, Legal Mail

Ohio Sued by Non-Profit Law Firm for Opening Prisoner Legal Mail by On May 6, 2025, the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, a non-profit law firm, filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (DRC) over the practice of intercepting mail between prisoners and their attorneys. The …

Guards Used “Blast Grenades” to Break Up Mob Attack  in California Prison

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General), Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Prisoner Privileges, Telephone Access

Guards Used “Blast Grenades” to Break Up Mob Attack in California Prison by On June 6, 2025, Julian Mendez, 46, a prisoner on death row at the Kern Valley State Prison in Riverside County, California, was killed by inmate Mario Renteria, 36, using a makeshift weapon, KGET in Bakersfield reported. …

JPay Loses Bid to Revoke Class Certification in Washington Prisoners’ Challenge to Crummy Products and Service

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Electronic Tablets, Computers, Telephone Rates, Securus

JPay Loses Bid to Revoke Class Certification in Washington Prisoners’ Challenge to Crummy Products and Service by Over five years ago, in May 2020, Washington prisoners Michael Linear and Lonnie Burton filed a complaint in state court against prison telecom JPay LLC, which held the exclusive contract with the state …

Free Calls in Massachusetts Lead to  Defunded Prison Programs

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors

Free Calls in Massachusetts Lead to Defunded Prison Programs by In December 2023, Massachusetts became the fifth state to provide free phone calls in its prisons and the first in all local jails. Video calling and e-messaging were also made available at no cost [See: PLN, Mar. 2024, p. 15]. …

Albert v. Global Tellink Corp, MD, Memorandum Opinion and Order, Telephone Rates, 2025

Brief • June 13, 2025

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Telephones, Telephone Rates, Antitrust Offenses, Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing, etc., Kickback Scheme, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

Albert v. Global Tellink Corp, MD, Memorandum Opinion and Order, Telephone Rates, 2025 Case 8:20-cv-01936-LKG Document 439 Filed 06/13/25 Page 1 of 17 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT ...