Answering our question about his support for blocking illegal cell phone use in prisons, Mayor Whip Jim Clyburn raised an important point – the absurdly high cost in some states, not including South Carolina, of making permitted calls from prison. This is an issue that Congressional legislation must address.
Mr Clyburn’s complete response to our consultation said: “It is important that prisoners are able to keep in touch with their families. Unfortunately, the cost of phone calls from prisons is exorbitant and patently unfair to low-income families. This regressive policy devalues the family and has led many prisoners to risk breaking prison rules. We need a balanced approach that allows prisoners to maintain regular contact with their families in an economical manner, avoiding illegal activities facilitated by cell phones. In addition, care must be taken that cell blocking technologies do not interfere with cell service, including calls to 911, in neighborhoods near the prison. “
The answer to Mr Clyburn’s last point was given by the 2019 demonstration of effective micro-interference contained within the prison walls at the Broad River Corrections Institution in Columbia, conducted by the SC Department of Corrections in cooperation with the federal Bureau of Prisons, which is the only one among US criminal law enforcement agencies to have legal authority to block cell phones. We hope that Dep. Clyburn, DS.C., the third Democrat in the House of Representatives, will be persuaded by this demonstration that cell phone blocking technologies can be deployed in a way that does not interfere with cell service, including calls to 911, in the neighborhoods near the prison.
But that still leaves the unresolved issue of excessive charges for phone calls allowed by prisoners. The “outrageous and evidently unfair” costs cited by Dep. Clyburn have been widely documented by the Federal Communications Commission for calls within a state. But the FCC was prevented by court order from controlling intra-state telephone charges, and many state regulators unfortunately allow telecom operators to steal prisoners.
SC Department of Corrections director Bryan Stirling told the Post and Courier that he agrees with Mr Clyburn’s point about the cost of prisoner phone charges and has taken steps to reduce them by negotiating what he calls one of the lowest rates. country’s casualties: 5.5 cents a minute for intra-state calls. This equates to about 83 cents for a 15-minute call. In 2008, it was $ 3.10, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. The Corrections Department also offers two free five-minute calls a week to each prisoner and e-mails that cost 25 cents each.
In contrast, the FCC has set a limit of 21 cents per minute on unpaid interstate calls, well above the new SC Department of Corrections contract. The FCC should revise its analysis of the average interstate call rates on which its excessively high threshold is based.
Congress must also give the FCC clear authority to regulate intrastate call rates, which can be exorbitant. An August FCC report found “cases where a 15-minute prepaid debit or prepaid call costs up to $ 24.80 – almost seven times more than the maximum of $ 3.15 than a call interstate of the same duration would cost ”. It also found that 80% of the phone calls allowed to prisoners are intra-state.
Congress must link the authority of the federal communications system to regulate intra-state call charges, where the most egregious excessive charges occur, to the authority for state prisons to block illegal cell phone communications, provided they do not interfere with other calls. locations. The combination would address Dep. Clyburn’s main concerns. If he takes the lead on these issues and helps pass the necessary legislation, he will have taken important steps to improve public security against crimes committed with illegal cell phones in prisons and, at the same time, improve the ability of prisoners to make legitimate calls. We encourage you to do this.