November 28, 2009
EDITORIAL
When Prisoners Phone Home
New York State
lawsuit by families of inmates who claimed that the prison system
overcharged them for telephone calls from their loved ones. The good
news is that this suit — and an accompanying lobbying effort — has
already succeeded in reforming a terribly unfair system.
New York
profit center. MCI, which provided the phone service, agreed to pay
the prison system 57.5 percent of the fees it charged for prisoners’
collect calls. The state then allowed MCI to charge outrageously high
rates: 16 cents or more a minute plus a $3 surcharge for every call.
Families paid as much as $300 to $400 a month, according to one
advocacy group.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, a public interest legal
organization, and prisoners’ families sued in 2004, charging that the
exorbitant rates were unconstitutional. The suit rightly embarrassed
New York
newly elected governor, announced that rates would be substantially
lowered. The Legislature later made it illegal for the Department of
Correctional Services to accept revenue in excess of its reasonable
costs for operating an inmate phone system.
What was left for the New York State Court of Appeals to decide was
whether family members were due refunds. They contended that the
excessive fees were an illegal tax that violated inmates’ equal
protection rights. This week, the court, by a 5-to-1 vote, rejected
the suit.
The decision is regrettable. But even the majority noted that the
plaintiffs had strong arguments that the high rates were bad policy
because they made it difficult for inmates to maintain family and
community ties, and that released prisoners who lack these ties are
more likely to return to a life of crime.
That is a message other states should heed. Prison systems may not
have to subsidize these calls, but they should not be using them to
balance their budgets. When prisoners cannot afford to keep in touch
with their wives, husbands, parents and children, everyone pays.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/opinion/ 28sat4.html?
partner=rss&emc=rss
lawsuit by families of inmates who claimed that the prison system
overcharged them for telephone calls from their loved ones. The good
news is that this suit — and an accompanying lobbying effort — has
already succeeded in reforming a terribly unfair system.
profit center. MCI, which provided the phone service, agreed to pay
the prison system 57.5 percent of the fees it charged for prisoners’
collect calls. The state then allowed MCI to charge outrageously high
rates: 16 cents or more a minute plus a $3 surcharge for every call.
Families paid as much as $300 to $400 a month, according to one
advocacy group.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, a public interest legal
organization, and prisoners’ families sued in 2004, charging that the
exorbitant rates were unconstitutional. The suit rightly embarrassed
newly elected governor, announced that rates would be substantially
lowered. The Legislature later made it illegal for the Department of
Correctional Services to accept revenue in excess of its reasonable
costs for operating an inmate phone system.
What was left for the New York State Court of Appeals to decide was
whether family members were due refunds. They contended that the
excessive fees were an illegal tax that violated inmates’ equal
protection rights. This week, the court, by a 5-to-1 vote, rejected
the suit.
The decision is regrettable. But even the majority noted that the
plaintiffs had strong arguments that the high rates were bad policy
because they made it difficult for inmates to maintain family and
community ties, and that released prisoners who lack these ties are
more likely to return to a life of crime.
That is a message other states should heed. Prison systems may not
have to subsidize these calls, but they should not be using them to
balance their budgets. When prisoners cannot afford to keep in touch
with their wives, husbands, parents and children, everyone pays.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/opinion/ 28sat4.html?
partner=rss&emc=rss
No comments:
Post a Comment