Comments on: Phone Companies Exploit Prisoner Families http://www.bloggernews.net/13264 High-quality English language analysis and editorial writing on the news. Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:03:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: dorothy miller http://www.bloggernews.net/13264#comment-341497 dorothy miller Sun, 18 May 2008 18:03:11 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/13264#comment-341497 Taking away a prisoners freedom Is a big punishment and is needed to protect society but taking away contact with their families is crule to the prisoner and the family. To take away a good portion of a families income so they wont lose contact with their loved one is unconsionable. Many of these prisoners are young kids who come from low income familes and have gotten mixed up in drugs alchole and pot.Theyre not big time criminals, and they need their mothers grandmothers and family because theyre the ones that have taught them the values that they have strayed from and I dont see phone calls as a prilege I see them as a necesity and they should be a reasonable rate. Taking away a prisoners freedom Is a big punishment and is needed to protect society but taking away contact with their families is crule to the prisoner and the family. To take away a good portion of a families income so they wont lose contact with their loved one is unconsionable. Many of these prisoners are young kids who come from low income familes and have gotten mixed up in drugs alchole and pot.Theyre not big time criminals, and they need their mothers grandmothers and family because theyre the ones that have taught them the values that they have strayed from and I dont see phone calls as a prilege I see them as a necesity and they should be a reasonable rate.

]]> By: call4less http://www.bloggernews.net/13264#comment-1049 call4less Wed, 03 Jan 2007 04:07:11 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/13264#comment-1049 Who should be paying for the inmates' phone calls? The public? The victims? You point out a problem, but you are not suggesting a solution. Part of the reason for the need of collect calling services is that the inmates can't take money with them into the jails. The higher costs are used to pay for the expensive phone systems required in the jails....these phone systems can protect the victims from harrassing phone calls and further intimidation. They also are designed to prevent fraud and limit calling times so that inmates don't get into fights because someone spent an hour on the phone. How often do these abused phones have to be replaced? How much does it cost to put a collect call on your local phone bill? Often it costs over $1.50 to have the privilege to place the charge on someone's home phone bill. What is the actual bad debt for these calls? Often times, 30% of the calls go unpaid, leaving the families that do pay supporting the deadbeats. I think a thorough investigation of inmate phone services may have enlightened you that this is a privilege and not necessarily a right. Who should be paying for the inmates’ phone calls? The public? The victims? You point out a problem, but you are not suggesting a solution.

Part of the reason for the need of collect calling services is that the inmates can’t take money with them into the jails. The higher costs are used to pay for the expensive phone systems required in the jails….these phone systems can protect the victims from harrassing phone calls and further intimidation. They also are designed to prevent fraud and limit calling times so that inmates don’t get into fights because someone spent an hour on the phone. How often do these abused phones have to be replaced? How much does it cost to put a collect call on your local phone bill? Often it costs over $1.50 to have the privilege to place the charge on someone’s home phone bill. What is the actual bad debt for these calls? Often times, 30% of the calls go unpaid, leaving the families that do pay supporting the deadbeats.

I think a thorough investigation of inmate phone services may have enlightened you that this is a privilege and not necessarily a right.

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