When I first went to jail (for being poor) it was costing me $1.50/min to call my family.
Six years later, when I was still locked up, my mother was dying of cancer and I could only afford to call her for five minutes a day.
Illinois at least dropped the prices of its prison calls to 1¢/min.
Amazing that this bill includes the county jails. Often jail and prison regulations are totally separate and jails usually get the short end of the stick.
And remember, it is never the prisoners that pay for the calls. It is always the friends and family having to put money onto the phone or commissary accounts. Often a male prisoner has left behind a woman and children and they have lost their primary income, but now they are being burdened with paying for phone calls, hygiene products, clothing and food for their loved one too.
replies(5):