Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/08/07/performative-cruelty.html
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Good on NYC!
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They weren’t just gouging prisoners - they were gouging their families who had to put funds into accounts to make calls at highly inflated rates (that’s how it works in PA - a friend trying to keep in touch with her son of limited means had great difficulty).
Yet - maintaining family contact is the #1 predictor of non recidivism.
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When he was first imprisoned, at age 17, he used the phone to talk with his high school sweetheart. He ended up marrying her, and they had two children together.
You see! You see what this can lead to? Teenagers growing up and having sex!
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Ahhhh!!! Scandal!!! Teh SEX!
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A refreshing breath of humanity.
Here’s hoping this sort of thing spreads.
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Roger That!
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And there is the real reason it’s being opposed. Well that, and prison guards tend to be sadists who get off on seeing people punished.
Never attribute to malice that which can be more easily explained by greed.
Meh, if the guards got kickbacks, that would make sense. As it is, all we have is malice.
Securus, the private company that manages phones in the city’s jails, makes about $2.5 million annually. The city will still likely pay a private company that amount.
WTF? Is this because of contracts that are still in place and will be allowed to expire, or just a concession to an industry with a lot of political clout [Read: money]?
Seems like we should be locking up prison services profiteers, not rewarding them.
It would not surprise me in the least if Securus lobbies the corrections union, donates to their retirement fund, and pays for their softball team’s uniforms. When you’re running a con, it’s always good to have an inside man.
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The prison guard’s union primarily speaks for the for-profit prison industry and its affiliates, rather than prison guards (cf. the NRA and gun manufacturers vs gun owners). I’m not disagreeing that this field is particularly inviting to sadists, but this is one of the few unions I don’t support.
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Securus (JPay owners) became the sole phone provider for NY state DOCCS this year, so they’re likely not going anywhere even if they’re billing the city directly instead of the prisoners/ families.
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Plus, smuggled cell phones are a thing* and the land-line phone calls will, presumably, be monitored like usual.
*: I’m pretty sure BB has covered rectal-sized cell phones in the past year or two.
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