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Are High Phone Bills Cruel and Unusual Punishment? The FCC Thinks so, and Plans to Mandate...
Daily Signal ^ | 10/21/15 | James Gattuso

Posted on 10/21/2015 4:32:08 PM PDT by markomalley

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To: markomalley

The idea is to make life so miserable inside the big-house, that folks don’t want to return. (within reason)

None the less, the Leftist mind thinks these people are treated rotten, and that’s “unfair”. Nope, it’s exactly fair.

They didn’t go there without a reason.

More and longer phone calls from felons to family and friends, what could go wrong?


21 posted on 10/21/2015 4:55:33 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (It's beginning to look like "Morning in America" again. Comment on YouTube under Trump Free Ride.)
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To: 31R1O

Forever? No.

As long as they are in prison, yep.


22 posted on 10/21/2015 4:56:40 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (It's beginning to look like "Morning in America" again. Comment on YouTube under Trump Free Ride.)
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To: Iron Munro
It’s difficult to make any decent money selling dope in the pen when it costs so much to talk to your growers and middle men.

That sort of activity is normally done through visitation. Girlfriends and family are the number one conduit for exchanging information and introducing contraband.

23 posted on 10/21/2015 4:57:05 PM PDT by AlaskaErik (I served and protected my country for 31 years. Progressives spent that time trying to destroy it.)
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To: markomalley

WHAT ABOUT MY PHONE BILLS. Gotta be close to a DOZEN fraudulent fees and charges attached every month. I pay my taxes and don’t commit crimes. Stop MY EXCESSIVE PHONE BILLS.


24 posted on 10/21/2015 4:58:07 PM PDT by George from New England (escaped CT in 2006, now living north of Tampa)
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To: 31R1O
I may be in the minority on this issue but I think this is another example of profiteering on those that can least afford it. In my opinion this is as bad as unreasonable probation fees. People don’t deserve to be punished forever.

According to this chart, a 15 minute collect call via AT&T would cost $28.34.

So far as I am aware, inmates are required to make collect calls, as they aren't allowed to have cash to feed a payphone.

If this chart is correct, it would seem that prisoners (or prisoners' families) are actually getting a price break already.

25 posted on 10/21/2015 4:58:20 PM PDT by markomalley (Nothing emboldens the wicked so greatly as the lack of courage on the part of the good -- Leo XIII)
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To: relictele

The phone call rates from prisons are an absolute disgrace.

It’s a pure ripoff of an admittedly captive audience. It’s not just the prisoners, but the families also - who often aren’t that flush themselves - have to pay extortionate rates. The goal of prison should not be solely to punish but also to rehabilitate offenders back into civil society. That is hard to do if contact with the outside world is overly restricted.

It’s an incredible scam perpetrated by the criminal-industrial complex.

Take a peak into the charges for simple phone calls. They are jaw dropping.


26 posted on 10/21/2015 5:00:43 PM PDT by glorgau
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To: markomalley

um.. why are they allowed to call anyone from jail to begin with!


27 posted on 10/21/2015 5:08:34 PM PDT by TexasFreeper2009 (You can't spell Hillary without using the letters L, I, A, & R)
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To: Rodamala
most of the rational states do not allow felons to vote.

Next, you will be trying to tell us that they don't let dead folks vote, either.

28 posted on 10/21/2015 5:17:03 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: markomalley; 31R1O
According to this chart, a 15 minute collect call via AT&T would cost $28.34.

Why is it so high? That is about half my monthly cell plan which includes data unlimited talk and text (or effectively given how little I use the phone).

I may be in the minority on this issue but I think this is another example of profiteering on those that can least afford it. In my opinion this is as bad as unreasonable probation fees. People don’t deserve to be punished forever.

I agree with you on this. Prisons should not be run for profit.
29 posted on 10/21/2015 5:17:05 PM PDT by ronnietherocket3 (Mary is understood by the heart, not study of scripture.)
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To: 31R1O

I agree. And keep in mind, prisons may become populated by folks who simply refused to bake a cake for someone.


30 posted on 10/21/2015 5:21:09 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: markomalley
Are inmates in state and federal prisons charged too much to make a phone call?

Please, someone tell me why I should care what it costs an inmate, a felonious piece of human detritus, a useless drain on society, to make a damned phone call?

The Federal Communications Commission thinks they are.

Well, I'm glad they're so concerned.

But why can't they stop Rachael from calling me two and three times a day?

Why can't they stop off-shore scammers from spoofing a lost/stolen credit card notification number and making life hell for those that believe it is real?

Why can't they stop the piece of crap in Las Vegas that keeps calling me and telling me that I won a a $250,000.00 dollar jackpot and I ain't been near Vegas in over three years?

Why can't the FCC look at MY damned phone bill and be concerned about all the stinking fees and taxes tacked on for God knows what?

Why?

Why indeed!

31 posted on 10/21/2015 5:35:13 PM PDT by OldSmaj (obama is a worthless mohametan. Impeach his ass now!)
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To: markomalley
When I first became a C.O. in NY State in 1980, inmates were allowed two calls a month...one in the first half, and the other in the second half. They were given allotted times for calls since you couldn't have them show up en masse. When they finished their first call of the month, they'd make the appointment for the second one. Back then, the inmate had a list of approved numbers they could call. All calls were made in the evenings, and were collect. The officer in charge of the phone room had to dial the number from the approved list that the inmate had chosen. Once the answering party accepted the charges, the inmate was directed to a phone booth similar to the old booths with a sliding door that closed. He had 10 minutes to talk. Each call was timed by the officer, and when the 10 minutes was up, a buzzer was triggered in the booth to alert the inmate to say his goodbyes. The officer had the right to end the call if the inmate over-stayed his time limit.

Several years later, at least in medium facilities, phones were put on the housing units, but the calls were still all collect. The difference was that the inmate made the call himself through a phone company operator. And because the inmate was actually making the call, they were no longer limited to the state approved number list. The inmates themselves policed the booths with those wanting to make a call, signed up for a certain time on a sheet of paper outside the booth.

Fast-forward more years, and the state installed phones in the yard that the inmates could use out there if they chose to go to the yard instead of staying on the unit to make their call. These were less private, because the phones were hung on poles cemented into the ground.

I've been retired since 2003, so don't know if there have been any changes, but I highly doubt that much has changed, especially the fact that all calls are collect. It isn't the inmates getting charged, it's the people who accept the collect calls. If they don't want to have to pay high phone bills, all they have to do is decline the call. During all the years I worked in Corrections, all inmate calls could be listened to by uniformed personnel, and recorded if deemed important to security.

32 posted on 10/21/2015 5:37:46 PM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: markomalley

If this chart is correct, it would seem that prisoners (or prisoners’ families) are actually getting a price break already.


Now you did it, some actual research.

In addition to that, the idea that people here can compare their communication system and cost to what is needed in prison shows that they are COMPLETELY lacking in understanding of the situation..........


33 posted on 10/21/2015 5:39:22 PM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: markomalley

And over on the Left hand, govt believes the costs of O’Care are just fine and dandy.

But, what else does anyone expect from the most corrupt administration from an agency created from whole cloth and no Constitutional authority.

Silly me, bringing up that old document like that. My bad!


34 posted on 10/21/2015 5:39:49 PM PDT by i_robot73 ("A man chooses. A slave obeys." - Andrew Ryan)
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To: Rodamala

most of the rational states do not allow felons to vote.

Almost all states allow felons who have served their time, to vote, some conditions must be met in some states.

Two states allow incarcerated felons to vote by absentee ballot.


35 posted on 10/21/2015 5:43:02 PM PDT by Graybeard58 (Bill and Hillary Clinton are the penicillin-resistant syphilis of our political system.)
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To: mass55th
When I first became a C.O. in NY State in 1980…

…I've been retired since 2003, so don't know if there have been any changes, but I highly doubt that much has changed, especially the fact that all calls are collect. It isn't the inmates getting charged, it's the people who accept the collect calls. If they don't want to have to pay high phone bills, all they have to do is decline the call. During all the years I worked in Corrections, all inmate calls could be listened to by uniformed personnel, and recorded if deemed important to security.

Please see post #25...

36 posted on 10/21/2015 5:43:24 PM PDT by markomalley (Nothing emboldens the wicked so greatly as the lack of courage on the part of the good -- Leo XIII)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
"Why not monitored Skype?"

And pray, how do you accommodate 2,000+ inmates in a facility to have this avenue of communication? Are you planning on giving each inmate a computer or other device to conduct their Skype visits, emails and texts? Then there's the whole security issue, not only for the facilities, but for the innocent civilians outside the prison who could be preyed-upon. The State, City, or County prisons/jails aren't going to pay for the internet service, let alone hire the staff or equipment necessary to monitor the inmate's use.

37 posted on 10/21/2015 5:44:56 PM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: Rodamala

Western Union already has the monopoly in sending inmates money for their commissary accounts. That is real nice racket.


38 posted on 10/21/2015 5:45:38 PM PDT by Captain Peter Blood
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To: 31R1O
"I may be in the minority on this issue but I think this is another example of profiteering on those that can least afford it."

If the convicts chose to stay out of jail/prison, then the people they call wouldn't be stuck with high phone bills. And all they have to do is decline to accept the calls.

39 posted on 10/21/2015 5:48:09 PM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: Presbyterian Reporter

Last week the Bureau of Prisons decreed no more pork

************************************************************************

That order has been rescinded.


40 posted on 10/21/2015 5:48:34 PM PDT by Graybeard58 (Bill and Hillary Clinton are the penicillin-resistant syphilis of our political system.)
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