In most State and Federal prisons inmates are forced to pay exorbitant costs to call their families on prison phones, up to $5.00 an hour or more. Legislation that will reduce the costs of phone calls behind bars is heading to President Biden’s desk for his signature. The law is called the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022

One reason for high rates is that jails and prisons typically have an exclusive contract with one telecommunications company. That means one provider has a monopoly on phone charges.

Another factor is commissions that county sheriffs or state corrections departments receive for awarding the contract to one phone company. Prison wardens argue that commissions are crucial to fund staff who will monitor inmate phone calls for any threats to the community. Why should the inmates, most of whom are destitute, pay to have their calls monitored?

A law to reduce the cost of phone calls for inmates is long overdue. Inmates need to maintain a connection to the outside world, and their families, or they will become institutionalized, making it that much harder for them to adjust to the outside world when they are released, which can cause even more crime. I have visited many friends, and even a family member, who received long prison sentences. Federal and State prisons do not put much effort into rehabilitation. Prisoners are left to fend for themselves in a hostile and dangerous environment for years, which has a detrimental effect on the human psyche. Prisons not only have a detrimental effect on the prisoner, but prisons have a detrimental ripple effect on the prisoner’s spouse and children, who end up suffering from financial problems when a breadwinner is locked up. The children lose the emotional support of a parent and loved one for a significant period of time. After the inmate is released and moves back in with his family, the entire family must adjust to someone who could be suffering from PTSD as a result of his experience in violent and hostile prison. The State usually lacks the resources to provide the family with mental health treatment and therapy. Children of prisoners are at a higher risk of getting into trouble with the law.