Communication companies are known for taking advantage of incarcerated persons and their families. In essence, they realize that they have a "captive audience" of people who NEED their services. As a result, they elevate the charging price because it is basically the only way that we can be "touched" by our family members, often on a daily basis. It is the prime example of taking advantage of a situation. Although the majority of the time, the call quality is poor, with lots of static on the line; clicking sounds on the line and often, the voices sound like the person is far down in a tunnel, the fees remain excessive.

Last year, I was sent the following message: 

"Several family members of incarcerated individuals have filed an important class action lawsuit.  The lawsuit alleges that three large corporations – GTL/Global Tel*Link, Securus, and 3CI – have overcharged thousands of consumers for making phone calls to their incarcerated loved ones. 

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that those three companies fixed the prices of certain phone calls with inmates called "Single Calls," which are a type of flat-rate collect call.  These calls were marketed under the names PayNow, Text2Collect, Collect2Phone, and Collect2Card and charged consumers a whopping $14.99 or $9.99 per call.  The lawsuit seeks to (1) recover money for all those family members, friends, and advocates of incarcerated individuals who overpaid for those phone calls and (2) halt those three companies from charging such inflated prices again. 

If you believe you were affected by this or have more specific questions, please contact Robby Braun, part of the team of lawyers litigating this case, at rbraun@cohenmilstein.com." 

I don't know the current status of the lawsuit, believe me I'm researching it, but this gives you insight into the situation.

This past weekend, I did not hear from my son. Lately, this is not unusual, as the "staff shortage" is the go-to answer for why the incarcerated persons cannot come out of their cells to use the phones. However, they are also renting tablets that they can make calls from, even though that call quality is subpar as well, Their tablets were not useable either. When I spoke with him on Monday, I was informed that the communications system was down in the entire prison all weekend. Interesting. 

Again, I point out that the #prisonindustrialcomplex is a multi-billion dollar business and good, effective, dependable communication systems should not be an issue.

We need a "Family Liaison" NOW, especially during times when there is no available way to communicate with our loved ones.

Email your thoughts to: dpscs.secretaryscruggs@maryland.gov