Federal prisons make inmate calling, video visits free during pandemic

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is making calling and video visitation free for inmates after the coronavirus forced a halt to in-person visits, the agency said in a letter to Congress. “Effective April 9, 2020, telephone calls were made free for the inmate population,” Bureau Director Michael Carvajal wrote to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who had led a dozen senators in raising the issue of the exorbitantly high costs that phone carriers charge to prison inmates. “Video-visiting, which is available to our female population, was also made free on that same date,” he added. The bureau oversees 122 prisons throughout the US.