The Birmingham News
June 13, 2008
 
 
THE ISSUE: A state agency's efforts to regulate prison phone services are welcome, but its proposed caps on rates are still usuriously high.

If you have a loved one serving time in a state prison or county jail in Alabama, and you want to stay in touch, you can expect to pay a premium for the privilege.

Prisoners are required to call collect, and the rates are simply astronomical.

So it was welcome this year when Alabama's Public Service Commission tackled the issue of prison phone service, asserting its a uthority to regulate the industry, blocking rate increases at several county jails and undertaking a broader look at the business.

The result of that effort: The PSC is considering new rules that would set quality standards for prison phone services and establish a rate cap. It's good that phone services would be required to have their rates on file at the PSC and that those rates could not be raised without going through channels. What's bad is that the proposed rate ceilings are still exceedingly high.

In fact, they are essentially the same as what the state prison system now charges: A 20-minute local call would be capped at $2.75, while a 20-minute, in-state long-distance call would be capped at $8.25, PSC spokesman David Rountree said.

That's a lot. Moreover, phone service providers would be able to exceed the caps if they convince the PSC a higher rate is justified.

Even at current levels, the r ates a re a real hardship, and inmates are not the ones being punished. The cost of collect calls from prison fall on people whose only crime is having a family member or friend behind bars. A number of these families are hard-pressed to absorb such an expensive phone bill. Everyone knows it's not fair.

Phone companies have blamed the high rates on security features needed for prisoner communications. That might be part of the issue. Still, other states have found ways to furnish phone services at more reasonable rates.

Esther Brown, an advocate who works with many inmates, said she has been billed $8.25 plus tax for a 20-minute, long-distance phone call from an Alabama prison. Even a local call from a state prison, she said, is $2.85 plus tax. By comparison, a 15-minute call from a Florida prison to her home costs $1.80.

Why?

The real problem is the phone calls are a source of money for the prison syste m and local jails, and the agencies have come to depend on the revenue. Even officials who are aghast at the exorbitant phone rates feel they can't do a thing about them.

With prisons in a perpetual budget crunch, the PSC undoubtedly is also reluctant to require rate cuts. Maybe commissioners feel the best way to protect consumers is to try to keep rates from going even higher, and there is something to be said for that. But it would be even better if the PSC adopted rules that would encourage prisons and jails to wean themselves from an indefensible source of revenue.

Back to News