Young Turks: Private Prison Charges Inmates $5 a Minute For Calls

[CherylK]

Run time: 05:12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gw2OCmHwLk   Posted on YouTube: November 18, 2011 By YouTube Member: TheYoungTurks Views on YouTube: 32387   Posted on DU: November 20, 2011 By DU Member: CherylK Views on DU: 1105

 
The largest prison facility owned by the Corrections Corporation of America (a private prison in Lumpkin, Georgia) is charging inmates $5 a minute for phone calls while they work for $1 a day. Ana Kasparian, Jayar Jackson and former prosecutor Steve Oh (@stevenoh88 on Twitter) discuss on The Young Turks.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/11/16/370173/private-prison-five-dollars-per-minute-phone-calls/

Subscribe to The Young Turks: http://bit.ly/eWuu5i

[MADem]

1. I think that is just usurious. I realize they don't want prisoners on the phone all day and night,

but that's just outrageous. Far better to just charge a reasonable price, and limit total time.

It's why so many of those "candy bar" phones get smuggled in. They're not just used to coordinate criminal enterprises, they're also used by inmates to earn a little extra money--if you can get a call out for a buck a minute instead of five, you're in a better situation.

[WingDinger]

2. Gulag, in plain view

[IndianaJoe]

3. Deplorable, but typical

As any lawyer who gets a call from a jailed inmate, and then has to pay for it collect, this is one of the biggest rackets going in America. Often the Sheriff gets a cut of the money. At least that's how it used to work in the Marion County Jail in Indianapolis.

It's no better with some of the Immigrant Detention Centers that ICE runs.

Overcharging for inmate use of a phone from jail is a horrible, horrible racket. The people that run it are the ones that should be jailed.

[ScottLand]

4. I live in Georgia. Why do I have to go to TYT to hear about this?

There is nothing about this on AJC. This should be news SOMEWHERE. This should be the straw that leads to changing the system itself.