The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

"It is unjust and counterproductive in the desire to maintain families and communities," Ron Daniels, executive director of the group, said at a Capitol news conference. The group has filed a class-action lawsuit against the New York State Department of Corrections on behalf of the families.

The suit was dismissed by a trial-level state court last October ago on the grounds that the statue of limitations has expired based on the 2001 contract renewal with telecom giant MCI.

The advocacy group claims that the high fees place a limitation on the freedom of speech, violate due process, and are bad business practices on the part of MCI and New York.

New York receives about 57 percent of all revenue from phone calls made from inside-state prisons. The state has taken in more than $175 million since the contract with MCI was signed in 1996, the group said. These fees have been used to fund programs for inmates, including medical care. They have also been used to detect criminal activity in prisons by monitoring conversations, the group said.

Reducing the cost of phone calls would mean more contact with family members and help keep families intact - and prisoners out of jail once they're released, according to advocates.

"For many families who can't visit it (phone calls) become a valuable lifeline," said Cecily Coleman of Prison Families of New York.
A spokeswoman for the state agency that runs the prisons, the Department of Correctional Services, declined to comment.

A bill currently before the state Legislature would force the state to reduce the fees and provide a debit card system under which calls could be made.

The Assembly bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens, was passed in June. The senate version, sponsored by Senator Michael Nozzolio, R-54th District, is still in the Crime and Corrections Committee, which Nozzolio chairs. The bill is stuck there because it does not have the majority support of the committee members, according to a Nozzolio spokesman.

There was no indication of when the appeals court, the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court, will hear the advocates' lawsuit.
Cost of a call

Cost of typical 19-minute call for prisoners and others:

Prisoners: $6.04

MCI "net value" plan: 76 cents

Verizon "5-cent package" plan: 95 cents Sprint "7 cents any time " plan: $1.33

Note: the rate applies to calls from prisoners regardless of the location of who they call.

The Empire Journal

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Rates For Prison Phone Calls Challenged In Court
If the courts won't help us, who will?

That's the question being asked by thousands of New York family members who pay a grossly inflated rate to receive a phone call from their loved ones in state prisons. On behalf of these families, the Center for Constitutional Rights has filed an appeal in their case against the New York State Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) and MCI.

The lawsuit, Walton v. NYSDOCS, seeks an order prohibiting the State and MCI from charging exorbitant rates to the family members of prisoners to finance a 57.5% kickback to the state. MCI charges these family members a 630% markup over consumer rates to receive a collect call from their loved ones, the only way possible to speak with them, CCR says.

Albany County State Supreme Court Justice George Ceresia, dismissed the suit last fall, citing issues of timeliness. http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/legal/justice/docs/WaltonAppeal_81705.pdf

"By dismissing the suit, the Supreme Court is effectively dodging its responsibility," said Rachel Meeropol, the attorney handling the case for the Center for Constitutional Rights.

"New York State is siphoning money from those who can least afford it. Gov. Pataki, the Department of Correctional Services, and the State Senate have all chosen to ignore the unfair financial burdens on family members struggling to pay their bills. This appeal for a judicial check on the other branches of government may be their only hope."

Meeropol noted that that the Family Connections bill (A.7231-A/S.5299-A), which would amend the state Corrections Law to provide prisoners with fair-market telephone rates, passed the Assembly in June but the Senate sponsor, Michael Nozzolio (R-Fayette), has yet to move the bill out of his own committee.

"This appeal is so important to me and all the others who are stuck with MCI's outrageous prices. No one should be cut off from their family, just so the state can make a profit. I'm praying the courts won't turn a blind eye to this injustice," said Brooklyn resident and family member Marion Rodriguez, who is also an organizer with the campaign.

Last fall, Judge Ceresia held that the plaintiffs were challenging DOCS' ability to contract with MCI, and should have filed their claim within four months of the April 2001 contract. The appeal asserts that, on the contrary, the appellants' claims were timely because the phone rates have changed since the 2001 contract. The plaintiffs are challenging the current rates, which were not effective until immediately before the suit was filed.

The appellants also argue that because family members of prisoners are billed monthly, their rights are violated on a monthly basis, constituting a new injury that they can sue to correct every month. Indeed, the logical implication of Judge Ceresia's ruling would be that thousands of individuals whose loved ones entered prison after 2001 would have no way to challenge the unjust rates.

CCR says New York's prison system has the highest kickback to the state and among the highest rates in America. They say for a family member to speak with a loved one in a DOCS facility, the prisoner must call collect at 16¢ per minute after a $3 surcharge. The average prison phone call is billed at 19 minutes, costing just over $6 and adding up to monthly phone bills of up to $400. Phone rates in U.S. and New York City facilities are substantially cheaper, CCR says.

"Criminal justice experts all agree that keeping in touch with loved ones makes it easier for prisoners to successfully re-enter society in a healthy, productive way when they are released," said Ron Daniels, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). "This contract is a sneaky way for the State to tax mothers, wives, brothers and children who aren't guilty of anything more than loving a family member. It needs to end"

The New York Campaign for Telephone Justice is working to end the contract between MCI and the New York State Department of Correctional Services. The campaign is a project of the Center for Constitutional Rights, in partnership with Prison Families of New York, Inc. and Prison Families Community Forum. 8-18-05