The staggeringly high price of a prison phone call

In the United States’ jails and prisons, many incarcerated people are charged steep fees to make phone calls to the outside world. The correctional telecom industry rakes in more than $1.4 billion annually from prisoner phone calls. That cost is generally passed on to the families of incarcerated people — who are disproportionately low-income, and disproportionately people of color. More than one-third of families with incarcerated relatives go into debt to cover the cost of staying in touch. It’s outrageous that a billion-dollar industry exists based on skimming profits from some of society’s most vulnerable people trying to meet one of our most fundamental needs: human connection. Fortunately, campaigns are underway to extend this basic decency to incarcerated people and their families. The national Campaign for Prison Phone Justice, led by the Human Rights Defense Center, has pushed for reform at both the state and federal level. Meanwhile, organizations like Free Press Action, Color of Change and the Prison Policy Initiative have pressured local officials, congressional leaders and the Federal Communications Commission to take action.

[Katrina vanden Heuvel is a columnist covering national politics, progressive politics and movements, and foreign policy.]