R2010002 - Public Comments

I recently learned that phone calls from prison or jail in California can cost more than $1 per minute. That is highway robbery compared to the $25 per month I pay for both telephone and internet access. Not to mention it hits the most vulnerable among us - people living in poverty are among the most likely to be incarcerated or have incarcerated loved ones. Please impose rate and fee caps to reduce the cost of calling home from California prisons and jails.

The fact that the prison industrial complex has grown exponentially in the last 20 years means that company’s and services are profiting from this as well, including companies like Global Tel Link and JPay, who continue to raise their fees in order to profit off inmates communication with their family and loved ones. It’s widely reported that the majority of people in the prison system come from low income backgrounds, suffer from mental health issues and suffer from intense isolation and trauma while serving time. Keeping in touch or communicating with family allows for hope, support, safety and, from what I’ve seen, a more successful reentry into society. You have a system that relies heavily on family support as inmate services, care, socialization and re-entry programs are so devastatingly underfunded, undervalued and undereducated, so sometimes family support through phone calls is the only form or means of communication throughout the entire arrest > jail > prison > release process. Private prisons need to be abolished. Phone access needs to be free or any profit needs to go back into the system, reentry programs, or prisoner rehabilitation.

Many people here have commented on how unfair and unsure it is to charge such exorbitant fees for people to keep in contact with their family, and the poor quality of the service that is provided by jpay and Securus. Providing basic services such as communication with their family at a low cost and high quality would be good for their prospects at successfully reentering society when their sentence is complete. This is also a major benefit for the state of California and it's residents who want to see the state's prisoners be able to come out into society and contribute positively, and not go back to prison. Many prisoners are from poor backgrounds and exploiting poor people for profit works against many of the other more noble policies the state does to help those in poverty. We should stop allowing certain corporations unnecessarily profit at the expense of our state, especially in situations where their exploitative practices hamper the ability of prisoners to maintain their family relationships and contact with them.

Incarcerated people are people and deserve to be treated as such. Putting financial barriers between people who have very little agency to make money and their communities is deplorable. It is not right to profit off the most disenfranchised people of our society. We must continue to provide free phone access to people in jail.

Securus has a monopoly and it's disgusting. The cost is absolutely obscene, and I think inmates should be allowed to call for free. To make sure everyone gets a fair chance, you can put limits on phone time. I am completely appalled by the state of the Jails and the cyclical system that traps people, all to make money on junk food and personal contact with family. It's disgustingly exploitative.

The Penal System emphasizes "reintegration" into the community. However, they do the exact opposite by alienating prisoners from their families by costly phone contact and limited visits. It appears that what the Penal System really wants is to create more prisoners and assure a high rate of recidivism by limiting family contact through the high costs of phone calls and other services.

I have a loved one in Avenal State Prison. First, I just wanted to list the things that the high rates have affected: 1) finances: when someone is in jail, the financial burden falls on those on the outside to pay for phone calls and many other things the incarcerated person needs, as well as costs associated with visits, if they can afford them. Often the families are facing reduced income already, because the person in jail was one of the family bread-winners and now they face additional, steep costs; 2) isolation and mental health: phone calls are a lifeline, especially in this time when there are no physical visits, they mean so much and can affect moods and behavior in the prisons; 3) relationships & recidivism: more frequent phone calls maintain family relationships, and these family members are often the ones who provide the support on release for the prisoner to reintegration into society. Secondly, I wanted to tell you of some of the frustrations I have personally experienced. 1) Figuring it out: a) When my loved one is moved, I have to figure out what phone company is providing phone calls. Every prison is different. When you go to the prison websites, they will say what company it it is and give a contact URL or phone, but if the phone company has changed anything, they often are not updated on the websites. b) Each phone company does the set-up differently. I've had to do it 3 times & it is always very confusing, bewildering, and frustrating. What I learn on navigating one system doesn't work on the other system. c) If it is not the same company, you can't transfer the funds you have on the other phone service to the new one. You have to start over with a new account. 2) Long distance costs: Because I am out of state, the rates are more expensive. I tried to use a free Google Voice number with the same area code to reduce the costs, but the service wouldn't work with GTL. Their customer support was not able to say if their phone service would work with Google Voice or not. I had to find out by very frustrating trial and error, missing calls, that it did not work with Google Voice. I was able to find a service that provided a local number for a $5/month which worked and was very helpful on reducing the cost of calls. 3) Reliability: Many times I would try to pick up the call, sometimes by pressing the number and sometimes by speaking the number and neither worked. Since my loved one could not call whenever he wanted to, our opportunity to talk would be gone. It was so frustrating and produced anxiety about the next phone call, if it would happen again. On his side, all he knew was I wasn't answering, which was hard on him. One time it happened for an entire week. I called support and they told me that they reset something on the jail phone (I have no idea what or why it broke) and then it worked. Sometimes the line is bad and we can't understand each other but we push on, straining to make out what is said. 4) Annoying message: They tell you at the beginning of the call that you are being recorded and to watch what you say. The phone calls are only 15 minutes long, but they interrupt at least twice to say that same message again. I'm not going to forget in 15 minutes that I'm being recorded. I don't see the need to have my precious time interrupted every 5 minutes to give me no new information. I also know that he's in a public space talking to me and that everything we are saying is heard by a number of people standing around waiting their turn on the phone. I get that they are paying a debt for their crimes, but every little indignity wears them down. They have no privacy, no guarantees that they will have phone time, or that the call will go through, or that it will be a good line & they can hear. On top of all that, they worry about the financial burden on us. Thank you for your caring & compassion.

Thank you for addressing this issue. The emotional burden of having an incarcerated loved one is significant and it is unfair to add a financial burden as well. My brother is incarcerated and these phone calls help him strengthen the support system which will help him once he is released. Prisoners should not have to choose between connecting with their families or not being a potential financial burden. Not only are the phone calls expensive they are also interrupted every few minutes to remind us they are being recorded which makes them an even worse value. Thank you for consideration.