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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: 0.822s | source
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glenjamin ◴[29 Nov 23 12:39 UTC] No.38458643[source]▶
I once attended an internal presentation while working for the UK's Ministry of Justice.

A large number of contraband mobile phones had been confiscated, and a team performed some data analysis to see what they'd been used for.

The overwhelming conclusion was that the phones had been primarily used to keen in touch with family.

There's also a whole bunch of research that showed that maintaining ties with the outside world while incarcerated led to reduced rates of reoffending (and the inverse was also true - isolation led to increased rates).

Allowing free phone calls in and out of prisons makes a lot of sense both socially and economically.

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up2isomorphism ◴[29 Nov 23 13:55 UTC] No.38459329[source]▶
There is no logic that a good thing should be free. In fact it should likely cost prisoners something if it is good for them. Just like breakfast is good for you but it is not free.
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beej71 ◴[29 Nov 23 14:57 UTC] No.38460114[source]▶
This is silly. Non-prisoners are paying out the nose for prisoners' "free" stuff already, and worrying about some pennies on top of that is petty.

Offering prisoners free phone access is very likely to save non-prisoners shittons of money, so we should do it.

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1. up2isomorphism ◴[30 Nov 23 06:50 UTC] No.38470495[source]▶
This is totally stupid and illogical. The fact that you already paid some money for the other people doesn’t necessarily give you any reason why you should pay more for another expense, big or small.

Again, none of you guys seems to care about the reason and just want the conclusion.

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2. beej71 ◴[01 Dec 23 02:14 UTC] No.38482187[source]▶
> The fact that you already paid some money for the other people doesn’t necessarily give you any reason why you should pay more for another expense, big or small.

You're right, but in the wrong place.

You're paying for another big expense when the person commits another offense and ends up with another round of prison. BIG bucks. If you'd just paid for their phone calls when they were in the last time, you'd have had a much better chance of not needing to spend that additional money.

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3. washadjeffmad ◴[01 Dec 23 13:03 UTC] No.38486201[source]▶
People that become incarcerated have also paid for their phone calls and prison sentences by virtue of having been part of the public. They also don't cease producing value while incarcerated, but the prison system captures that, not the public.

Think of it like health insurance. Everyone pays, it's a service available to all of us, but not everyone uses it.