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State-Based Telephone Campaigns

New York
A Good Call in New York
Published: January 10, 2007
The New York Times Company

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/opinion

Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York set an important national example this week when he announced that the state corrections department would back away from a longstanding policy of charging prison inmates and their families more than six times the going rate for collect calls made from prison.

Prisons all over the country began gouging inmates and their families when telephone companies started paying legalized kickbacks — called “commissions” — to the state prison systems in return for a monopoly on the service. These schemes place a huge financial burden on inmate families, who tend to be among the poorest in the nation, and who must often choose between paying phone bills and putting food on the table.

The Spitzer administration, which plans to waive its commission and renegotiate the current contract with its prison telephone carrier, estimates that the cost of a collect call from prison will drop by about half once the program goes into effect. That’s good as far as it goes. But the better solution would be to introduce a cheaper, debit calling system like the one used in federal prisons, where inmates use computer-controlled accounts to pay for calls.

The governor’s announcement didn’t come out of nowhere. Arguments against New York’s collect-call-only system were heard yesterday in the state’s highest court. At the same time, laws that would make the system fairer for inmates and their families are pending in the State Legislature.

Whatever the source, fair pricing for prison telephone service is important. In addition to unburdening poor families, it would encourage sustained contact between inmates and their relations. And that would make it more likely that the inmates would forge crime-free lives once they got out.




			State-Based Telephone Campaigns New York A Good Call in New York Published: January 10, 2007 The New York Times Company http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/opinion Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York set an important national example this week when he announced that the state corrections department would back away from a longstanding policy of charging prison inmates and their families more than six times the going rate for collect calls made from prison. Prisons all over the country began gouging inmates and their families when telephone companies started paying legalized kickbacks — called “commissions” — to the state prison systems in return for a monopoly on the service. These schemes place a huge financial burden on inmate families, who tend to be among the poorest in the nation, and who must often choose between paying phone bills and putting food on the table. The Spitzer administration, which plans to waive its commission and renegotiate the current contract with its prison telephone carrier, estimates that the cost of a collect call from prison will drop by about half once the program goes into effect. That’s good as far as it goes. But the better solution would be to introduce a cheaper, debit calling system like the one used in federal prisons, where inmates use computer-controlled accounts to pay for calls. The governor’s announcement didn’t come out of nowhere. Arguments against New York’s collect-call-only system were heard yesterday in the state’s highest court. At the same time, laws that would make the system fairer for inmates and their families are pending in the State Legislature. Whatever the source, fair pricing for prison telephone service is important. In addition to unburdening poor families, it would encourage sustained contact between inmates and their relations. And that would make it more likely that the inmates would forge crime-free lives once they got out. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company