02.16.07
PHONE HOME
Have you ever thought that sometimes the real criminals are not all incarcerated? Well this blog is for any of you who have ever entertained that thought and for those of us have more than a passing acquaintance with the prison system in this country. More than that, anyone who has had the misfortune to have encountered MCI and its monopoly on the telephones in the California prison system and in other prisons across the country.
How this company has slipped through the cracks and managed to stay a step ahead of the law boggles the mind. Perhaps its because not enough people are filing complaints with the FCC and their state senators and representatives or maybe it’s as simple as too many palms are being greased to look the other way. In any case for those of you who haven’t a clue as to what I’m referring to allow me to enlighten you.
Sadly many of us have a family member incarcerated in a California correctional facility or a facility in some other state. My particular experience is in California. We have all heard on the news about the over-crowded situation in the prisons but for those of us who have a loved one inside the situation is made worse by the fact that often these men and women are sent to a facility far from their home area making it almost impossible for them to receive family visits. Aside from letter writing the only other form of communication with family and friends is by telephone. To this end MCI has placed an even bigger burden on these families than is already in place.
Irregardless of what crime these people may have committed, being able to speak with family and friends is an important and often critical means of connecting with family. Many of the inmates are very young people and many are from extremely low-income families and some are possibly illiterate and can’t write, so being able to phone home may be the only means of communicating.
Most of the long distance carriers have converted over to flat rate long distance or VOIP (voice over internet protocol) even for those folks who don’t have this capability most all carriers have one flat rate or extremely low rates for long distance calls. Of course there is always the option of the ever ready and available calling cards at very low rates. So why then is MCI, who has captured and I don’t say that loosely, most of the telephone operations in these prisons charging outrageous fees for these calls?
Inmates are permitted to make collect calls from designated pay phones in within these facilities. As a rule collect calls are more costly than a direct call but with MCI monopolizing these phones they have set unreasonable fees. Basically it’s about $3.95 connection fee and $.89 cents a minute thereafter. However it gets better, here is how it works. You are first asked to establish an account with MCI by depositing a set amount of money, let’s say $100.00. This deposit is then deducted from your first bill; it’s a sort of good faith fee, that much I get. This account then allows you to receive a set number of calls in any month (let’s say six) and the length of calls in limited to about ten minutes. Once the set number of calls have been placed your phone number is then blocked from receiving any further calls until the first day of the next month. Also, if your bill remains unpaid the phone number remains blocked. For those who already have MCI as the long distance carrier it works about the same with the exception of having to make the initial deposit. In this case MCI determines how many calls you can receive based on your payment history with them. The same rules apply and the phone number can be blocked at any time they see fit.
If this isn’t bad enough, MCI eats up your minutes by playing a recorded message every few minutes during your conversation with an inmate. This message tells you that you have received a telephone call from an inmate at a correctional facility, as if you didn’t already know this. The purpose of this recording is anybody’s guess for certain the MCI representative couldn’t explain it and in fact didn’t seem to know much about it at all.
So there you have it. Life is hard enough these days and certainly for the many families who are suffering a member who has been sent to prison it gets even harder. It is, in my opinion, immoral and unconscionable that a large company like MCI or any company should be permitted, under the auspicious of the law, to place and even bigger burden on these families by monopolizing the prison phones and charging unnecessary and outrageous fees for their use. As one person put it. “Prison is an industry” and certainly it is.
From the standpoint of the prison system I guess they consider it a privilege for inmates to be able to make telephone calls at all and that maybe so, but from the standpoint of many of these families it may be the only lifeline available to them.
Imagine how hard it must be for anyone of moderate means who simply can’t afford these fees to not be able to speak with a loved one or even for a friend reaching out to another friend for support.
Now I know that some of you out there must be thinking that if they did the crime then tough they deserve it. However not all of the men and women incarcerated are hardened criminals and in fact many, even most, are young people who have made bad choices whether through drug abuse or due to getting involved with the wrong people and have ended up in prison. A system that, for the most part, is warehousing these people with very little rehabilitation in place; but that’s another story. Whatever the why and wherefore the issue remains that having been given the opportunity to be able to make telephone calls why should the cost of these calls be so excessive?
What can be done about it? I’m not certain if things can ever change because it is such big business, but I do know that there has to be a better way. We can start by encouraging every person who has someone incarcerated in a prison and has experienced this situation whether it be through MCI, Correctional Billing or any other company to file a complaint with the FCC (Federal Communications) and with your senators and congressmen; even begin by contacting your local representatives. Do whatever you can. Get a petition going and forward it along with your complaints. Maybe if enough people speak out a change will be made. Remember the old adage, “the squeaky wheel gets the oil” well let’s put it to the test.
So there you have it, the answer to your question is not all criminals are in prison, most of them are operating about a minute behind the law and getting away with it at the publics expense.
To everyone reading this blog, thank you; and to all the many families out there who are experiencing this problem my heart goes out to you and yours. Why and how a loved one ends up in prison, well the reasons are as wide and as deep as the ocean but once inside why should the situation be even more of a burden on those waiting to hear or just waiting. Remember even E.T. wanted to “phone home.”
AND THAT’S THE WAY IT IS FOR FOLKS LIKE US!!