PLEASE DO NOT FORGET WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING ANY CALLS FROM PRISONS OR JAILS THIS MONTH. IT IS VERY INMPORTANT THAT EVERYONE STICKS TOGETHER ON THIS AND MAYBE WE CAN MAKE THE STATE TAKE A SECOND LOOK AT THE ABUSE WE ARE RECEIVING FROM T-NETIX.

I HAD MY LAST CALL FROM MICHAEL LAST NIGHT, AND I KNOW HOW VERY HARD IT IS NOT TO TALK TO HIM. AS MOST OF YOU KNOW I AM NOT ALLOWED TO VISIT AND THE PHONE IS ALL WE HAVE. BELIEVE ME HE DOESN'T LIKE TO WRITE EITHER, ONLY WHEN IN LOCK UP. BUT THIS IS SOMETHING WE HAVE TO DO.

OVER THE YEARS I HAVE HAD CALLS THAT CAME DIRECTLY TO MY HOME ON MY REGULAR PHONE BILL. THEN THE STATE CAME ALONG AND SEEN A GRAVY TRAIN, WELL I ACCEPTED THIS EVEN THOUGH MY CALLS WERE MUCH HIGHER.

BUT ALONG CAME T-NETIX IN APRIL AND THAT COMPANY IS RUDE ONLY LOOKS OUT FOR THEMSELVES. THEY BLOCK OUR CALLS IN THREE WAYS.

1. WHEN A INMATE CALLS REACH 25 IN A 24 HOUR PERIOD THEY BLOCK THE CALLS THE NEXT 24 HOURS

2. WHEN CALLS REACH 50 IN A WEEKS TIME- THE CALLS ARE BLOCKED UNTIL THEIR WEEK IS UP

3. WHEN CALLS REACH 150 IN A MONTH- THEY BLOCK IT UNTIL THE REMAINDER OF THE MONTH IS UP.

THIS MY DEAR FRIENDS ARE WRONG- WHAT DIFFERENCE SHOULD IT MAKE AS LONG AS WE PAY OUR PHONE BILLS AND THEY ARE PAID ON TIME.

WITH THE PAST COMPANY I HAD NO LIMITS ON MY PHONE EVEN THOUGH SOME DID BUT IT WAS 150 FOR THE MONTH WITH NO BLOCKS UNTIL THAT LIMIT WAS MET.

PLEASE JOIN US AND LETS HIT THE STATE WHERE IT HURTS THE MOST, IN THEIR BACK POCKETS.

VICKI

Good luck, but to be honest, I'd pay $4.99 a minute and be thrilled if I could just get ONE 10 minute call a month. See, no such phone call option is available.

While I agree the phone companies are excessive in their fees, it is my opinion that one should appreciate what they have when so many others have much less.

Still, I agree with your principle but not your methods. What will happen if the state decides it is not worth the "aggrivation" and then removes the phones entirely. You say it can't happen? Take a look at Texas. No phones.

Good luck.

IMO

Jim

which state is she talking about? every state is ran diffrent on their phone privileges. as well as their price range. what ever state your loved one is from is where it needs to addressed at. there fore not every state that dont have the problem will be effected by it. there is alot of organizations that are fighting for this very cause. which i believe is a great cause.
i am like jb,, tx dont get that even.

best wishes to you

lulu

I do believe this is in the Alabama forum, so I am assuming it is for the state of Alabama.. ;)
Could I be wrong?
:p
David

Yes it is Alabama.

The part that bugs me is that for the price I pay, the DOC receives just under 1/4. There just has to be a better company - one that won't charge as much and give a higher percentage to the DOC. As broke and over-crowded as Alabama is, it would seem this would be an obvious thing.

I pay an average of 2 dollars per minute.

Yes Fed-X your right on target. :)

I'm sure that all of us has issues about different things dealing with the phones. Maybe some don't approve of the way we are going about things, and that's ok. But when I receive bill after bill from T-Netix where they charge me 43 calls in one month that were disconnected less than 5 minutes because their faulty system can't distinguish between a human voice and a click.. then there is a problem. There recording says" You have used a custom calling feature" and cuts me off, when all I am doing is talking... ghee can you afford 107.00 for those calls? I can't I know that I have had the same phones for 10 years, the same phone lines and it never did this until this company took over. April we were fine then May is when the night mare started.

As for our methods... if for no other reason we are making the public aware of what is going on... and as you know in numbers all things are possible.

vicki

Vicki,

Whatever it is worth, you have a very legitimate complaint about the disconnection. That phone company SHOULD be giving you credit for the disconnect, however we both know that doesn't always happen. The good news is that they have to answer to the FCC and what they are doing, to the best of my knowledge, is against the "rules". You can file a complaint with the FCC specifically against their over charging you for disconnections. It is NOT exactly what the big problem is, but it may provide a limited level of relief for you.

As for affording the $107 for 43 5 minute phone calls? Wow..... I wish my offshore phone calls were that cheap! LOL.... Your point is valid, however I would gladly pay $107 for one 5 minute call a week! Oh, that would be what i will be paying when she is released.

Again, your point is valid. The abuse by the systems are very real and must be dealt with. Good luck in your efforts.

Whatever the outcome you experience will not affect me in any way shape or form. See, I deal with TDCJ and get NO phone calls at all, ever. That is just how TDCJ works. All I was attempting to do was provide you a little additional information to consider. I serisously doubt you would like for Alabama to consider to implement the TDCJ standards for the phone! God forbid! Anyway, it isn't likely that would happen, but it is something to consider. You know how vengeful the DOC systems can be.

I still wonder if you didn't get a bunch of your friends who have had the same and/or similar problems and file complaints with the FCC. You could cause enough of a problem for them legally that they may correct the problem. Yes, this is a long way of doing something, but it has greater potential for desired end result.

Remember that this complaint of the "surcharges" or whatever they are calling it are a very common complaint among just about every system in the US that allows phone calls. So, if you and some friends were to ADD to this growing list of citizens complaining about the abuses of the phone companies, eventually the FCC will not be able to ignore the problem. Another means is to find some congressman (any) and have some complaints filed to them for investigation. If they are sympathetic, they may have it changed for their state. This would set a precedent that the FCC couldn't ignore easily.

Well, good luck and I wish you the best. I hope you were able to avoid the effects of Lilli. I left but when I returned I found almost no damage to Morgan City (the supposed bearer of the brunt of the storm). Heck, my carport was dry! I live about 1/2 mile from the Atchafalaya river. Oh well, wasted money and trip but did get to see some really weird things (my first ever hurricane). I was in a Wal-Mart parking lot and watched those parking lot cart holders "sailing" across the parking lot. Lots of stuff like that. It was really interesting.

Well, good luck in this endeavor and I do hope you keep us informed on what kind of feedback you have. While I still believe that there are much more effective means of achieving the same desired results, I hope that you don't experience any negative reprisals from the system.

IMO

Jim

Jim,
There really is no problem, and I am trying to understand where your lady is at in Texas. It seems to me if every one in Texas pulled together laws to concerning the use of phone could be changed.
As for the FCC believe me they have heard from me and hundred others since April. I myself have filed a complaint every month since this company took over. So you see we have went that route also.
I guess Alabama could withdraw our phones, but I don't think that will happen they make too much money from their use. Also if I might add, the Fcc is the one not the DOC that picks out the company that we must use.
I have been in this prison life for over 10 years , when the inmates were allowed to call my own carrier and we could talk for hours at a time, with no connection fee other than a personal call coming into my home. I didn't fuss then , when they went into the business of making money and limiting our calls for fifteen minutes. I have never once fussed or complained and the people at correctional billing and evercom were really nice people to deal with. T-Netix is another group all together... maybe its because they can't have their service in their on state, Texas because of the DOC rules there. Hadn't thought about it...but maybe that's the case.
Either way this is my third day on the boycott and I am very proud of the inmates going along with us out here. I believe in number's we can make a difference. You could say a little prayer if you want to that I want be a basket case by Nov, 1. :)

vicki

I posted this elsewhere, but thought it needed to be in this thread.

PLEASE READ TODAY'S EDITORIAL IN THE MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER.

Inmates' kin deserve better


Surely most citizens would agree that the operation of county jails and state prisons is a fundamental responsibility of government, a cost of society borne by all taxpayers in the interest of public safety. Given that, why is there so little outrage over the shameful burden placed on the families of inmates who attempt to communicate with those families by telephone?

Jails and prisons all over Alabama are bolstering their budgets -- which admittedly need bolstering -- in a way that should embarrass the people of this state. Inmates who want to call home cannot use coins or prepaid phone cards, but instead have to make calls via systems that impose unreasonable costs on their families.

The families receiving the calls are billed for them at unconscionable rates. Charges usually run 19 cents per minute for local calls and 49 cents per minute for long distance calls. What consumer in today's highly competitive telephone service market pays anything like that?

Obviously, the system is lucrative for the telephone companies, which can easily afford to give the jails and prisons a cut of the revenue. That cut supplements the budgets of the jails and prisons. For the state prisons, it produces about a half-million dollars a month.

But at what cost to the families of inmates? And at what cost to the integrity and dignity of government?

The system would be unfair if the cells were filled with the heirs of Rockefellers, but most inmates don't come from well-off families. To impose such exorbitant costs for simple telephone communication with an incarcerated loved one is indefensible.

Families can refuse to accept calls from inmates, of course, but that hardly helps maintain relationships. It is just plain wrong to put families in that situation.

Very few inmates will die in prison. Most will get out at some point, and it is certainly in the state's interest for them to have maintained family relationships that they can re-enter upon their release.

Adequate funding for prisons and jails is an obligation of the citizenry that the facilities help protect. This callous ripping off of inmates' families is a blight on Alabama government that should shame us all.

Now if you can get other News carriers to pick up on that and maybe a talk show (radio TV) things might change?

THE WORD IS SPREADING !!!!
» More From Today's Mobile Register

Opinion




Inmates' families pay, too



10/08/02


WHEN A person is incarcerated in a jail or prison, part of the punishment shouldn't be forcing his family members to pay outrageous phone charges to talk to him. But that's what happens in Alabama and many other states.
In fact, Alabama county jails and state prisons have come to depend on the extra income from the inflated phone charges -- essentially balancing their budgets on the pocketbooks of inmates' families, who often are the least able to afford the higher phone bills.

It's not clear how much Alabama's 67 counties get each year from phone company commissions, which the companies pay for the opportunity to offer phone service in the jails. The Department of Corrections, though, says prisons generate about $500,000 a month from the commissions; and it's estimated that some individual jails take in $100,000 or more a year.

That's money, of course, that the phone companies recoup from the families of inmates by charging higher rates. In a county jail, a 15-minute call costs $2.85, or 19 cents a minute. Long-distance calls cost 49 cents a minute. (The families pay because inmates can only make collect calls, which is a rea sonable restriction.)

Granted, many people have scant sympathy for inmates and their families. But there are broader issues involved.

Criminal justice specialists say contact between inmates and their families promotes rehabilitation in many cases. And more significant, extracting this money from inmate families hides the true cost of incarceration, and unfairly forces a segment of the public -- and a poverty-stricken segment at that -- to bear a disproportionate share of the public expense.

Alabama isn't alone in doing this, of course. Indeed, among the states, only Nebraska does not participate in this exploitation.

Alabama lawmakers should limit phone company commissions, and let inmates use prepaid calling cards. Other options include prisoner debit cards, letting prisoners call residential 800 numbers, and allowing call recipients to select the carrier for collect calls.

Eliminating the windfall phone profits will put a crunch on jail and prison budgets that will have to be made up through direct state appropriations. But isn't that the way the correctional facilities should have been funded all along?

:) Finally they are listening in the press - now if only the state government will pay attention!

Hello Everyone,
As of today October 20th I have not talked to Michael the entire month. Here I sit 20 days later and one letter since this all began. In his letter he had mentioned that they were going to be doing surgery on his kidneys in the next week or so. I have no idea if this has taken place. Monday will be two weeks since I received this letter. Hopefully one will come soon.

I truly hope others are supporting us and staying off the phones here in Alabama. Michael said in his letter that he had only seen one inmate use the phone at Holman. Word has it that limestone inmates are doing there on thing talking up a storm. News is St. Clair has 100% boycott.

To those who are helping thank you very much we only have another 11 days left.

Lucky me they have scheduled me off Nov.1st at walmart. I wrote Michael and told him I do expect a call as soon as the phones are turn on that morning. :)

vicki

Hello Everyone,
It's me again and thought I would report that here it is Oct 30 and I still have not used the phones. :) I can now count down the days and I will hear from Michael Friday. I certainly hope that others in the state of Alabama has helped us out with this boycott. I know that it has been hard on both us out here and the inmates that are locked away.

I want to personally thank each and everyone for standing together on this issue. I had word that at Holman Culliver stated that if the guys didn't get on the phone then there mail would be held. Maybe that might explain why I only received one letter from Michael the entire month.

I guess my many question will be answered friday.

Sincerely,
vicki