Prisoners May Lose Their Cell Phone Privileges, If Congress Has Its Way

Then don't accept the charges....they commmit the crime and are IN JAIL for the deed.

The family does Not Have to accept those reverse charges. They choose to do so therefore if they get a big phone bill it is Their fault and their problem. Prison is for Punishment and having a cell phone is not a punishment. Prisoners do not need nor deserve cell phones or computers. They need to feel Lucky they are allowed TV's. They are Scum and need to be treated as such,period.

abbynm,
Your right the family members haven't done anything wrong so why should they be stuck with a HIGH phone charge if one some family member in the pen calls them. Well, its like this abbynm, we all make choices in our life's and sometimes people make bad choices. And sometimes those choices may involve them breaking the law so they have to do some prison time for it. If you do the crime, you have to do the time for breaking the law and doing things wrong. Now as family members of these so called criminals they too have a choice they can either accept the collect call from the prison so they can talk to that family member or decline the call all together....its that person choice. I'm totally against anyone having a cell phone in prison because they gave up that right when they broke the law and ended up in prison. And no I'm not an uncaring person because I've had a family member in prison and I refused to accept his calls and the charges that go along with them. That doesn't mean I don't love him...it means I believe in tough love and if you break the law you must pay for it without the use of any kind of tools or gadgets you had the freedom to use when you were out living in society but you lose that right from the time your arrested and it should be that way always.

abbynm,
Your right the family members haven't done anything wrong so why should they be stuck with a HIGH phone charge if a family member in the pen calls them. Well, its like this abbynm, we all make choices in our life's and sometimes people make bad choices. And sometimes those choices may involve them breaking the law so they have to do some prison time for it. If you do the crime, you have to do the time. Now as family members of these so called criminals they too have a choice, they can either accept the collect call from the prison so they can talk to their family member or decline the call, it's their choice. I'm totally against anyone having a cell phone in prison because they gave up that right when they broke the law and ended up in prison. And no, I'm not an uncaring person because I've had a family member in prison and I refused to accept his calls and the charges that go along with them. That doesn't mean I don't love him...it means I believe in tough love and if you break the law you must pay for it without the use of any kind of tools or gadgets you had the freedom to use when you were out living freely in society but you lose those right's from the time your arrested and it should be that way always. I also think any employee working in a prison that gives these criminals cell phone or any other gadgets should be doing time right along with them because they are criminals too. And they should put up a block in prisons to where no cell phones can call out, including the employees who work there.

Having worked on phone systems, and those in prisons, most states and federal prisons require all calls to be screened, the prisoners have to give the officals names and numbers of who they want to calll and those numbers are added to a system that requires the prisoner to enter his/her PIN number and most are collect with extra charges due to the private carriers the prisons use. I don't have an issue with this except that reverse charges through these companies aren't even close to what a collect call should be, sometimes three to four times the normal rate, in some cases the prisoner is charged through their "bank" which people can deposit money for their use.

My opinion, after serving 22 yrs in the (US Army) military and now trying to conform and live in society again after an injury that has put me on full disability, and I feel like I'm in a different world than the world I had in the Army, we had our own language, our own way of life and now I am working to conform to a civilian lifestyle which is extremely hard, since my job was combat related. I can almost see what these cons are all about, they have heir own language, their own way of life and want that opportunity to be back on the streets so they can conform to a less than civilized way of life..Well if its this hard for a veteran, an inmate must be like a mad dog, and if their trainer can't somehow train them not to bite then they- by my opinion must be put to sleep. I know this sounds very cruel, but all i'm reading is whether to take a prisoners cell phone away, and how high the cost of a collect call is to the family, if they except the call. Well again, I'm having a very difficult time changing and I don't even want a cell phone, I know you think whats your point, and my point is, if a disabled soldier feels like a prisoner when they are released due to no fault of their own or anyone, and they see an article like this where we actually almost pamper prisoners who have raped, murdered,stabbed someone to death, the list goes one and now its cell phones, we feel like here we put our life on the line and lost our buddies and come home and feel like a prisoner because we don't fit in anymore, I wish the prisoners in these prisons were given a year or two over in Iraq and then if they survive and come home welcome them back, train them into the civilian world and maybe they are worth helping with giving them an education like you are doing now, maybed they are worth a TV to watch, and a cell phone. but you won't see our government send these convicts to war, they send the ones who are in school, the ones working, the one who have goals, the ones who have played by the rules of life and thats something you can't teach a prisoner, they kill over nothing, they will kill their own just to say we now rule this corner of the street, they kill because they are not capable of thinking for themselves but allow others to control their minds, so AOL or whomever wrote this, don't waste another article on something like this, something so trivial, something we know deep down is not important at all. what is important is to close that cell door, turn the key and lock away that killer, rapist, petophile,and have the security personnel go about their daily routine, and I will now go to my rehabilitation appt. and do what I must to again be a part of this beautiful country, The United States Of America. and if we must give privilege, lets give it to the poor in our country, the abused and all those who cannot speak for themselves, we must speak for them, the abused children, all the animals that are abused, yes we have more important things to discuss on these boards. I have now forgotten about cell phones for unworthy criminals in our society, and I suggest you forget to.
God Bless America.
U.S. Army Veteram

So true in your comments, I also work as a shift Lt. in a correctional facility and cell phones and the chargers are a hot item. These items get tossed over the fence or are brought in by dirty staff, it is a daily occurrence.

Yep corrupt jailers bring in these cell phone ALL the time. Maybe the warden needs to watch his staff.

Very good point MaryLou! Absolutely! Nothing changes until you boot this current crop of congress out and put a new crop. Listen, even if its a democrat or republican, vote them out or you are asking for the same ole routine. I am a conservative but here in WA state, there is no incumbent safe; demo or repub!

Because they ARE IN CELLS!!!!!!!!!!!!

a burner is a burn phone, a phone without a contract that is prepaid and cannot be traced