Virginia’s prisons charge too much for inmates’ calls
Published: December 27, 2008
I am concerned about the inmate phone system in our commonwealth.
Under the current system, families of inmates are assessed a surcharge of $2.85 per call in addition to the usual collect call rates. One phone call, which is limited to 20 minutes, can easily cost between $10 and $20. If a mother wished to speak with each of her two daughters once a week, it could cost her family $160 each month, not including any conversations with her husband or parents!
At such rates, Virginia’s General Fund has received more than $6 million in revenue from some of our state’s most vulnerable families, and has effectively prohibited others from maintaining contact with their loved ones (more than 80 percent of our women in prison are mothers).
Studies have shown that children who maintain contact with their incarcerated parent are less likely to become incarcerated. With the epidemic of incarceration in our nation, changing the current inmate phone system is a way we can actively interrupt the generational cycle of those who enter prison.
Other states and our federal prisons have phone systems that are far more family-friendly. Perhaps a system akin to the federal inmate phone system could be implemented. Federal inmates purchase phone cards from the inmate canteen for three cents per minute. Equipment maintenance could be assessed to the inmate as a surcharge on the phone card.
With so many creative people in Virginia, surely there is a way to implement a socially just system.
Karen Beiber
Lovingston
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Most State entities, prisons included usually are not allowed to produce income and keep it. It goes back to the general fund. Charging for room and board could be kept in the prison system. Does anyone care to bet that some sort of telecom is not involved? 90% of the prisons nationwide are in some sort of deal with a service provider that not only charges higher long distance rates, but gives the state a big kickback for doing nothing but enjoying the ride. Read “Prison Profiteers: Who Makes Money from Mass Incarceration” and find out what a money train the prison systems actually are.
Funny the court system usually gives one or two chances for people before sending nthem to prison. If the court costs didn’t wake up the people and the phone costs do…..talk about penny wise pound foolish. Don’t do the crime. Deaf ears here. Take the kids on visitation trips thats a pretty eye opening experience.
Ask yourself a simple question - If you eliminate this revenue from the system (its not telecom companies but rather the jails themselves), how are you willing to replace it? Are you willing to pay more taxes so that inmates can have more privileges? Are you willing to divert funds from the state and local governments away from other services?
While I may feel some compassion for the children of an incarcerated person - I feel no sadness for the parents who have one or more of their off-spring incarcerated. Why? Because I child has had no input in who his/her parents are and had nothing to do with their upbringing and values; however, the parent(s) raising a child or children, have every accountability for how they’ve raised their child/children - seriously - if you’ve raised them with a solid sense of self-worth and moral values, it would take a heck of a lot to make them do anything to be placed in jail—peer pressure would not have much success, nor would many other things. It’s a tough situation, I agree. Isn’t jail supposed to be a eye-opening, life changing experience? Visitation and letters still work, right?
Well - with 4 kids all grown (under 30 years old), and a single parent for 15 years - I thank God that my “being present and involved” in their lives has given every indication that they’ll all be successful in life (I don’t mean making millions) -
I agree, cut the phone companies out of the profit picture and the money the jail birds save could go back into paying for their room and board.
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