I believe that the Illinois Department of Corrections should allow telephone access through each individual in custody's tablet. There should be no allowance for price gouging or kickbacks from the vendor to IDOC. Rather, the phone rates should not change and should be comparable to the current rates of less than a penny a minute as provided by Securus technologies.

I also believe IDOC, through the approved vendor, should ensure that WiFi access to the tablets is available in each individual cell, as currently the WiFi access is unreliable in some cells within each of IDOC's institutions. And individuals in custody who follow the rules and are in "A-grade" should be allowed unhindered access to the phone app on the tablet.

I further believe that the phones currently made available in the dayrooms should remain available to those who cannot afford a tablet, or for those whose tablets are temporarily inoperable. Those with the means to purchase a tablet should be allowed to do so and those without the means to purchase a tablet should be provided state-loaned tablets in the same manner as fans are currently provided in IDOC.

Many states already allow telephone access via the tablets. In fact, the Cook County jail currently allows telephone access via the tablets. All calls are recorded and there is obviously no serious threat to security by allowing individuals in custody access to the phone via their tablets.

In the past, IDOC, through Securus technologies, allowed unrestricted calls in 30-minute increments. Due to excessive fighting over the phones in dayrooms IDOC and Securus reduced call times to 20-minute increments and restricted use to each account by imposing 35-minute wait periods between calls. Yet, issues over phone access still persist.

Currently in most institutions within IDOC, there are about five telephones that are shared amongst an entire wing during dayroom hours. In some situations, the wing can include upwards of ninety individuals in custody who must share five telephones over the course of anywhere between one to three hours during dayroom hours determined by IDOC officials. As you can imagine this is why most physical altercations occur over the phone. In some institutions, prison gangs are allowed to have control over individual phones and they only allow their participating members to use the phone. This leaves individuals in custody who refuse to participate in such activities at the mercy of predatory prison gangs.

Furthermore, as Covid-19 has taught us, there is a serious risk of communicable viruses being spread with communal use of telephones. Access to phones on individual tablets will eliminate this health hazard.

Additionally, IDOC is grossly understaffed. In 2023 lockdowns due to prison staff shortage has become a common occurrence. Currently with the phones only available in dayrooms, individuals in custody are deprived of phone privileges simply because IDOC can not employ a sufficient number of people.

More importantly it should be remembered that innocent people are being deprived of conversations with a loved one who is incarcerated. It is the families of individuals in custody who suffer. Children are deprived of daily interactions with their parent during their crucial developmental years. Wives are unable to talk to their husbands. Siblings are unable to hear advice they have always relied on from their big brother or sister. Nieces and nephews grow up without ever hearing from an uncle or aunt who is incarcerated. Mothers and fathers are not able to talk to their incarcerated children. And of course, there are elderly family members who spend their twilight years deprived of communications with their loved ones. All forms of familial relationships suffer from the lack of an ability to converse with their loved ones. Studies have repeatedly shown that children of incarcerated parents are more likely to come to prison themselves. This is due to the absence of a parent in their lives. Daily phone calls from a loving parent can help reduce the likelihood of an innocent child resorting to criminal activity later in life

Lastly, society as a whole suffers from the lack of phone time. Socially isolated individuals develop anti-social tendencies. The loss of communication with loved ones greatly diminishes the support system that would otherwise be waiting for individuals when released. These two things increase the likelihood of released individuals from reoffending. New crimes create new victims and the cycle continues..