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NY Court of Appeals to Review Overbilling of Inmate Collect Calls

By TChris, Section Inmates and Prisons
Posted on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 10:31:49 AM EST
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by TChris

Inmates are frequently forced to make collect calls if they want to talk to family members. Shockingly, jail and prison authorities are happy to sign contracts that permit telephone carriers to charge outrageous tolls for those calls, on the condition that the jail or prison gets a kickback from the overcharging. Burdening the ability of inmates to stay in touch with their families so that the government can turn a profit is ultimately counterproductive because it inhibits rehabilitation, as TalkLeft noted in this story about a lawsuit that tried to end the practice in New York.

The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights, was dismissed, and that dismissal was affirmed on appeal. There's still reason to hope for a just outcome, however, as the New York Court of Appeals has agreed to hear the case.

"This is important news" explained Rachel Meeropol, a Center for Constitutional Rights attorney representing plaintiffs in the case. "Family members of prisoners live hours away from where their loved ones are incarcerated, and spend hundreds of dollars a month keeping in touch by phone. Hopefully the court will do the right thing, and finally put an end to this unjust contract."

The rates under this contract charge family members 630% more than typical consumer rates to talk with loved ones in New York State Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) prisons. New York State gets a 57.5% kickback on the phone company's profits.

An effort to solve the problem legislatively died in the state Senate.

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    • NY Court of Appeals to Review Overbilling of Inmate Collect Calls | 8 comments (8 topical)
    Re: NY Court of Appeals to Review Overbilling of I (none / 0) (#1)
    by Slado on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 10:48:29 AM EST
    As much as I think criminals deserve punishment this is ridiculous. The families of criminals are innocent and don't deserve to be overcharged simply because their family or freinds are in prison.

    Re: NY Court of Appeals to Review Overbilling of I (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 11:45:42 AM EST
    Good to hear Slado...I see this as simple extortion of families of inmates. You'd be surprised at how many people say "but their criminals"...as if that somehow excuses extortion of people not convicted of anything.

    Re: NY Court of Appeals to Review Overbilling of I (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 03:25:47 PM EST
    kdog:
    You'd be surprised at how many people say "but their criminals"...
    Considering the general level of literacy in the US, I wouldn't be surprised. But I do hope that someone would point out that that should be "but they're criminals".

    Re: NY Court of Appeals to Review Overbilling of I (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 03:54:45 PM EST
    Burdening the ability of inmates to stay in touch with their families so that the government can turn a profit is ultimately counterproductive . . . Well, aren't you the king of understatement? I would have gone with "evil."

    Re: NY Court of Appeals to Review Overbilling of I (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 04:27:43 AM EST
    This is an evil, stupid ripoff the elimination of which is long overdue. We do a fair amount of pro bono criminal defense work in my office and this puts us in the absurd position of having to pay about $400--$800 EXTRA on our monthly phone bills (around half of that money is then kicked back to the whichever county is holding them pending trial) so that we can communicate with our clients.

    Re: NY Court of Appeals to Review Overbilling of I (none / 0) (#6)
    by john horse on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 09:42:31 AM EST
    Because inmates are considered by our society to be the least among us, most people couldn't care less how they are treated. However, this lack of oversight leads to abuse and corruption. Here in Florida the prison system was permeated by a corrupt good ole boy culture. Former Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections James Cosby recently plead guilty to taking over $100,000 in kickbacks. Other examples of recently revealed problems included sexual assaults, misuse of inmate labor, drunken violence, steroid abuse among guards, questionable prison contracts, favoritism in hiring, and theft. Nine prison officials were recently fired by the new Secretary James McDonough. The problem with overbilling of inmate calls is probably only the tip of the iceberg.

    Re: NY Court of Appeals to Review Overbilling of I (none / 0) (#7)
    by Aaron on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 10:36:16 AM EST
    Wow, now I know why my friends and family were complaining about those high collect call charges all the time. I'm going to have to sue somebody. This really is disgusting and sick, but it's also inevitable. As more and more people are incarcerated, institutions are going to look at every avenue possible make money off of them, we do live in a capitalist society after all. Once we've got 10% of the population incarcerated, that's about the time to we'll institute slave labor, and call it rehabilitation.

    Re: NY Court of Appeals to Review Overbilling of I (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 12:19:27 PM EST
    The last three commenters make great points. I'd point out that criminal defendants get financially jacked in a lot of other ways as well. Here in New York, anyone pleading guilty to a misdemeanor gets popped for $160. A non-criminal violation goes for $95, and people take these all the time in NYC because the DA rarely dismisses cases outright. It's hard enough leaving jail or prison with a felony conviction, and it's no help to start out owing the state $270. Pushing already poor people further into poverty in addition to whatever punishment they're already receiving is terribly counterproductive and damaging. If citizens and taxpayers want to maintain our "lock 'em up" style of justice, they should pay for it themselves.

    NY Court of Appeals to Review Overbilling of Inmate Collect Calls | 8 comments (8 topical)