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Massachusetts becomes fifth state to make prison calls free

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264 points toomuchtodo | 3 comments | 29 Nov 23 02:33 UTC | HN request time: 0.635s | source
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dvektor ◴[29 Nov 23 04:02 UTC] No.38455412[source]▶
Here (Maine) calls are almost $7.00/hr which is indeed outrageous, however the jobs pay 2-4x better than other prisons i've been in, the food is better, you are given more things like clothes that other prisons would make you pay for. And I am allowed to go to college, and even hold a job developing software.

So although it is absurd, I have been in other prisons where the calls are dirt cheap but they have shit food, they dont give you ANYTHING and there isn't shit for opportunities. I understand that sometimes the profit they make off the calls might be going to things like quality of the food, etc. I know that this is almost never the case, but I do know that it is somewhat the case here.

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hsbauauvhabzb ◴[29 Nov 23 06:26 UTC] No.38456219[source]▶
Prison is supposed to be rehabilitation, not a self-funding machine.
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JumpCrisscross ◴[29 Nov 23 06:31 UTC] No.38456259[source]▶
> Prison is supposed to be rehabilitation

That’s one part. The others are deterrence, incapacitation, retribution and restitution [1].

Letting prisoner’s work aids rehabilitation. Letting them earn further aids restitution.

[1] https://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/chapter/1-5-the-purpose...

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1. mlyle ◴[29 Nov 23 08:14 UTC] No.38456841[source]▶
> Letting them earn further aids restitution.

These things have a balance, though. If you're planning on letting people out of prison one day (i.e. if they don't have a life sentence)...

And it's punitive to the point that familial relations break and people lose what little support network they have and ability to live outside of prison...

You can expect they're going to show back right up where they started. In which case, by facilitating repeated recidivism, you've neutered deterrence, incapacitation and left them unable to make meaningful restitution.

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2. Vespasian ◴[29 Nov 23 12:24 UTC] No.38458539[source]▶
Even for life sentences I believe it makes sense to have prisoners work and earn some small privileges inside.

For one its possible to encourage good behaviour by threatening to take it away but also because a sense of purpose and achievement is important for a healthy mental state. That's true for incarcerated people as well and a stable population reduces enforcement costs and churn among the guard personal.

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3. mlyle ◴[29 Nov 23 15:08 UTC] No.38460265[source]▶
No one's arguing with that (though, of course, the devil is in the details...)

Just, the combination of:

- Denying people the practical ability to contact their loved ones except by phone

- Charging a price that is very high compared to outside rates for this contact (prohibitively so)

- Paying prisoners a tiny fraction of outside rates, such that

- Only people who can depend upon money coming from outside can contact family

is both cruel and probably increases recidivism.