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Massachusetts Becomes the Fifth State to Make Prison Phone Calls Free
Loaded on March 1, 2024
published in Prison Legal News
March, 2024, page 15
Until December 1, 2023, Massachusetts prisoners and their families paid 12 cents per minute for phone calls, 14 cents in jails, though the first 10 minutes there every month were free. That added up to about $25 million annually—money that will now be saved, after the 2024 state budget took ...
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More from this issue:
- Overcrowded and Understaffed, Oklahoma County Jail Remains “Deplorable”, by David Reutter
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Lawsuit Claims Seattle’s King County Jail Shows Little Improvement in Quarter Century Since “Hammer Agreement”
- No Jail Time for Former Arizona Prisons Director After Armed Standoff With Cops
- Pennsylvania County Found Skimming Prisoner-Designated Funds from ViaPath Kickbacks
- Colorado Sheriff Resigns After Deputies Fatally Shoot Motorist
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- U.S. Sentencing Commission Greenlights Retroactive Sentence Reductions
- Redemption Songs: The Forgotten History of American Prison Music, by Maurice Chammah
- Nearly $11 Million Settlement Reached in Suit by BOP Prisoners Held Without Heat, Electricity During New York Winter Storm, by Douglas Ankney
- Massachusetts Becomes the Fifth State to Make Prison Phone Calls Free
- Federal Prisoner in Virginia Convicted on Fresh Kiddie Porn Charges After Drawing His Own
- California Slowed, But Not Barred from “Dumping” Sick, Indigent Parolees on Public Hospitals
- Rikers Island Detainees Given Pricey Weight-Loss Surgery but Little Follow-Up Care
- Illinois Eases Restrictions on Prisoners Released Under Supervision
- Moms Released from Massachusetts Prison Decry Dearth of Help
- Eighth Circuit Issues Primer on Informal Due Process Procedures to Missouri Prisoner, by David Reutter
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More from these topics:
- Florida County Makes Free Jail Phone Calls Available, April 1, 2024. Telephones, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Securus.
- Minnesota Prison on Lockdown After Protest Over Dirty Water, Lack of Phone Use and Out-of-Cell Time, March 1, 2024. Protests, Exercise, Showers, Water, Lockdowns, Telephone Access.
- Pennsylvania County Found Skimming Prisoner-Designated Funds from ViaPath Kickbacks, March 1, 2024. Jail Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Kickback Scheme, Private Phone Contractors.
- Ninth Circuit Revives Challenge by Federal Prisoner in Arizona to BOP’s 300-Minute Monthly Phone Cap, Feb. 1, 2024. Retaliatory Transfers, Telephone Access.
- Sheriffs Offered Caribbean Cruises and Florida Retreats As Part Of Jail Telecom Contracts, Sept. 15, 2023. Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephones, Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors.
- California Appeals Court Affirms Rate Caps and Fee Limitations for Prison Telecoms, July 15, 2023. Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors, Securus.
- FCC Requires Prison Telecoms to Provide Services for Deaf Prisoners, July 15, 2023. Deaf Prisoners, Americans with Disabilities Act, Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors.
- Telecoms Exploiting Legal Loopholes to Price Gouge Prisoners and Their Families, May 1, 2023. Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp.
- Massachusetts High Court: Lawmakers Haven’t Stopped Sheriffs From Taking Kickbacks from Jail Phone Calls, and Neither Will We, March 1, 2023. Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Federal Funds, Private Phone Contractors.
- GTL Ordered to Pay $18.675 Million in Attorney Fees and Costs in Prison Phone Class Action, March 1, 2023. Class Actions, Private Phone Contractors, Global Tel*Link Corp.