ANOTHER WHY..."

Why do states and the institutions where prisoners are housed make it so incredibly difficult for prisoners to place phone calls at a reasonable price?

Although Elsa has a sort of a "phone card" whereby she can pay the incredible charges involved, when she has available money from her low-low-paying job in the prison, I also receive the occasional collect call from her. In these collect calls, an automated voice informs me that the call will cost $3.00 for the first minute and $.30 for each minute thereafter. We usually talk for the whole 15 minutes, no matter which of us pays. That means $7.20 per call, unless we can make it shorter, which we seldom do. As a matter of fact, there are times when we have unfinished business--about blogs I am posting for her, about her worries for her children, about the websites I have created for her and what items should be included and where.

It seems to me that one thing that would tend to help many prisoners pull themselves together and make changes in their lives--those who actually have committed the crimes of which they are convicted, that is-would be to help them have access to the people who know and love them, rather than making phone contact both difficult and overly-expensive.

It also seems to me that one thing that would tend to help prisoners maintain their sanity when they--like Elsa--have been convicted of a crime or crimes they did not commit would be the same thing--contact with people who love and support them, believe in them and work to create justice for them in a world that has declared them criminals.

Either way, it would seem like it would be an advantage to the system...an advantage to prisoners who are guilty...and an advantage to prisoners who are innocent--if they could just make calls at a reasonable clost.

Seven dollars and twenty cents is not a reasonable price for a phone call that is limited to fifteen minutes.

I have nagging feelings of anger when I hear that automated voice declare, "You have one minute left to talk," and then shortly "You have fifteen seconds left to talk."

Elsa and I never even get to say "good-by," because we need every second to conduct the business of getting attention to her agonizing plight.

Thus I repeat the question with which I began:

Why do states and the institutions where prisoners are housed make it so incredibly difficult for prisoners to place phone calls at a reasonable price?