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Massachusetts becomes fifth state to make prison calls free

(www.wgbh.org)
264 points toomuchtodo | 1 comments | 29 Nov 23 02:33 UTC | HN request time: 0.221s | 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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1. jamesTee49 ◴[01 Dec 23 13:41 UTC] No.38486522[source]▶
Incarcerations should be harsh and life-ending. Look at North Korea, they have way less crime than even Tokyo. In comparions to Chicago look like a mess mafia gangland. When you reward the prisoners with a lot of benefits, you simply tell everyone crime pays. The focus should be on expediting justice and ensuring correct justice to be dispense. Prisoners that committed crimes should be left for them to be in miserable states to discourage them to do crime. Reoffending one can be liquidated. I really dont want my tax going to feed this kind of inhumans.