WHEN: Thursday, November 16, 2006 (or CALL IN on another day of your favorite radio show)
Verizon/MCI’s monopoly telephone contract with The NYS Department of Correctional Services: charges families of people in prison 630% more per collect call than the average customer; has given New York State $175 million dollars in kickbacks from the contract since 1996; and unlawfully taxes and exploits families.
The New York Campaign for Telephone Justice seeks to end the contract and deliver choice, affordability and equitable service to the families and friends of people incarcerated in NYS prisons.Join the New York Campaign for Telephone Justice as we CALL IN to our favorite local radio stations! In recognition of the successful 11-16-05 MCI Boycott, Rally & March in NYC, the NYCTJ is encouraging people all around the country to CALL IN to your local radio stations - in a public education blitz! Say something like "Hi, I'd like to request (name of song) for my loved one in prison, who I don’t speak as often as we’d like to because of Verizon's [or other phone service provider] high rates with the Department of Corrections.
www.telephonejustice.org
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Those rates do sound high, but that is comparing the rates to a regular long distance call from home. What is not being taken into consideration is the liability of having phones in jails, costs of frequently replacing phones and cost of recording equipment since many inmates are still attempting to commit crimes while incarcerated. Additional costs include the billing and collecting of collect calls...local phone companies are charging up to $1 per call just to put that call on the phone bill. The insurance costs to maintain a phone system in a jail can be upwards of $10,000 per year for liability. The Inmates Rights Groups should really consider investing in this equipment and maintaining it for the jails and the inmates at no cost. This cost should not be borne by the taxpayers, but by the organizations that want the inmate to have free or low-cost phone calls
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