The L.A. County Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday on a plan that will allow people in jail to make phone calls free of charge. If approved as expected, it would mark a major victory for criminal justice reform advocates, who say forcing incarcerated people to make collect calls is an unfair burden.
“More than 80% of the people in our jails are from under-resourced communities of color,” Supervisor Hilda Solis said in a statement. “Asking that families take on the burden of costly phone calls is unfair and inequitable.”
Under the county’s plan, Public Communications Services Inc. will provide telephone service at a cost to the county of $32 million over a 29-month period starting Dec.1. The cost-per-minute would range from 39 to 42 cents per minute.
Free phone calls will also be available in juvenile halls and camps run by the Probation Department.
Current calls charge ‘exorbitant fees’
The jail population in L.A. County is more than 14,000. The size of the contract illustrates how much friends and family have been paying to talk to incarcerated people, said Sam Lewis, executive director of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition.
“The county has basically preyed on the families of incarcerated people” by passing on “exorbitant fees” from contractors, said Lewis, who noted the costs are far higher than the cost of a cell phone call. He said a 15-minute call can cost $3.
He also said it’s in the interest of community safety to make it easy for people in jail to call outside.
“It’s vitally important to keep a person connected to their family. That’s part of the rehabilitation process,” Lewis said. “Psychologically, it…
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