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Prison Phone Justice

 

Welcome to the Prison Phone Justice website, maintained by the Human Rights Defense Center!

This site deals with the issue of prison and jail phone calls, which typically cost much more than non-prison calls. Prison phone contracts are based on a "commission" model, where the phone service provider pays a commission (kickback) to the contracting government agency, such as a state prison system or county jail. These kickbacks inflate the costs of prison and jail phone calls, which in the vast majority of cases are paid not by prisoners but by their family members. This website includes detailed information on state-by-state prison phone rates and commission data, as well as reports, articles and other resources related to prison phone services and the prison phone industry.

Also please visit the Campaign for Prison Phone Justice site, which includes resources for getting involved in this issue as an advocate or activist.

 Intrastate (in-state) Collect Prison Phone Rates         

 

Key Prison Phone Documents

PLN Dec. 2013 cover story on the prison phone industry

PLN April 2011 cover story on the prison phone industry

 

HRDC comment to FCC re WA phone rates Sept. 2014

HRDC response to PayTel comments             Jan. 2014

HRDC comment to FCC on FNPRM               Dec. 2013

HRDC comment to FCC on NPRM                 March 2013

HRDC reply comment to FCC on NPRM         April 2013

HRDC response to Global Tel comments       Oct. 2012

HRDC initial comment to FCC                       April 2007

 

FCC Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Oct. 2014

FCC Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Sept. 2013

FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking -           Dec. 2012

 

Prison Phone Related News

Prison Phone Companies Seek New Revenue Source in Electronic Messaging

Loaded on Feb. 29, 2016
Filed under: JPay, Inc., Telephones, Telephone Rates, Video Visitation. Location: United States of America.

Mike Ludwig, Truthout

Would you still use email if every message had a word limit and was automatically declared to be the property of your email provider?

What if every email cost $1 to send and the receiver could not answer back by simply hitting "reply?"

"Calling the electronic messaging ...

Prison Policy Initiative Releases Report on Email Services for Prisoners

Loaded on Feb. 29, 2016 by Derek Gilna published in Prison Legal News March, 2016, page 24
Filed under: Prison Reform, Computers, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Telephone Rates, Family. Location: Massachusetts.

The non-profit, Massachusetts-based Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) has released a comprehensive study on communication options for prisoners, focusing on email services while also citing issues related to phone calls, visitation and postal mail. According to the January 2016 report, a common thread among these communication options is the creative methods ...

Oklahoma DOC, Sheriffs Challenge FCC’s Prison Phone Reforms

Loaded on Feb. 29, 2016 by Carrie Wilkinson published in Prison Legal News March, 2016, page 22
Filed under: Prison Reform, Telephones, Telephone Rates. Location: Oklahoma.

A petition for review has been filed in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the Second Order and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking released by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on November 4, 2015, which made sweeping reforms to the prison phone industry. [See: PLN, Dec. 2015, p ...

From the Editor

Loaded on Feb. 29, 2016 by Paul Wright published in Prison Legal News March, 2016, page 14
Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Prison Reform, Jail Specific, Education, Telephone Rates, Video Visitation, PLN related. Location: United States of America.

One downside of publishing a magazine like Prison Legal News for 26 years is that in some respects we are not covering a one-off or isolated story but rather are reporting an ongoing and developing issue. This month’s cover story about the epic abuse, corruption and brutality in the ...

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