Why states shouldn’t profit from prison phone calls, i.e. the commission system? Because the revenue that large telcos generate and then give, as commission, to the state, comes from prisoners’ families who accept collect calls, pay for calls from their prepaid accounts or send money to their incarcerated family members for their debit phone accounts. So all the burden falls on already over-burdened and stressed people!
The commission system means that companies justify exorbitant rates and that states profit from the excessive phone charges paid by inmates’ families and friends
Check out David Ganim’s opinion article in the Des Moines Register, about why the state of Iowa should not profit from prison phone calls, and why they should pick a company that does not include commission payments and is based on the lowest cost to the call recipients — typically prisoners’ family members — as eight other states have already done: California, New York, Michigan, New Mexico, South Carolina, Nebraska, Missouri and Rhode Island.
And even though the revenue from commissions likely funds many worthwhile programs for inmate rehabilitation and reentry, there is no legitimate reason why such programs should be funded largely by prisoners’ families and friends through inflated phone rates.
And particularly because communication is essential for inmates and their families. Phone calls to family and children are the primary means of maintaining family ties and parental relationships. Communication which facilitates and strengthens family connections during incarceration can reduce the strain of parental separation, reduce recidivism rates, and increase the likelihood of successful re-entry of prisoners.
Communication over the phone is essential for both inmates and their families
David Ganim, the national prison phone justice director for the Human Rights Defense Center in Lake Worth, Fla, concludes that in October, when the Iowa Department of Corrections renews or rebids its prison phone services contract, it should give serious consideration to forgoing commission revenue in whole or part and should place the greatest emphasis for the contract on the lowest overall cost of prison phone calls.
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