State of Phone Justice: Local jails, state prisons and private phone providers
This policy brief from the Prison Policy Initiative provides an overview of prison and jail phone call fees and makes several recommendations to reform them.
Corrections Fees
Prison Phone Justice: Intrastate Collect Prison Phone Rates [Map]
The Campaign for Prison Phone Justice maintains a website tracking the cost of phone calls from prisons in all U.S. states as well as the sum of kickbacks that families of incarcerated people have paid to relevant corrections agencies nationwide.
UNDER PRESSURE: How fines and fees hurt people, undermine public safety, and drive Alabama’s racial wealth divide
This report examines in detail the collateral consequences of Alabama’s court debt system and explores the ways in which it undermines public safety and drives the state’s racial wealth divide.
New York City Council Committee on the Justice System hearing: “The Cost of Justice”
FFJC Co-Director Joanna Weiss was invited to testify at a New York City Council hearing, “The Cost of Justice,” about fines and fees in NYC courts.
Texas prison system reduces cost of phone calls by 77 percent
During the summer of 2018, the Texas Board of Criminal Justice voted to reduce the price of phone calls made from Texas prisons. Previously, incarcerated people paid an average of $0.26 per minute to call their loved ones; now the rate is $0.06 per minute, and the time limit for calls was increased from 20 to 30 minutes.
Ten Guidelines on Court Fines and Fees
The American Bar Association developed ten guidelines to ensure that fines and fees do not punish people disproportionately for their poverty.
NYC Council Passes Intro 741, Guaranteeing Free Phone Calls for People Detained in NYC Jails
Joint Statement on a Victory Against Jail Profiteering July 18, 2018 – Today, the New York City Council passed Intro. No. 741, legislation sponsored by Speaker Corey Johnson, which requires …
Opinion: City Must Stop Using Incarcerated People as Revenue Source
FFJC Co-Director Joanna Weiss worked with #CLOSERikers Campaign Coordinator Brandon Holmes to publish this op-ed in the Gotham Gazette. Together, they argue that New York City should end the practice …
New York City Intro 0741-2018: Telephone services to inmates.
In August 2018, New York City Council passed Intro 0741, making NYC the first U.S. city to agree to make all phone calls free for people who are incarcerated in city jails.
“Set up to Fail”: The Impact of Offender-Funded Private Probation on the Poor
The author conducted qualitative research to assess the effect of private probation on people under parole supervision for misdemeanor offenses in Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. In some of these states, private parole officers have the authority to control critical aspects of a person’s parole terms.