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Senators Urge End to Fees on Prison Calls / Critics say phone policy gouges inmate families
San Francisco Chronicle; San Francisco, Calif.; Aug 17, 1999
Abstract:
The senators were responding to complaints from inmate's families and a recent Chronicle investigation that revealed the state earns as much as 44 cents per dollar on each collect call made from a state prison. Last year, California collected $16 million from prison phone calls, which went to the state's general fund.
The senators' actions came at the same time that MCI, which operates most prison pay phones, admitted it overcharged for some calls made by California prisoners. The admission came last week in response to a complaint filed against MCI by a consumer group, which said MCI was systematically overcharging people who accept collect calls from prisoners. MCI said its billing mistakes were isolated and denied widespread overcharging.
In California, state inmates can make only collect calls, and they can use only MCI or GTE -- whichever has the exclusive pay-phone contract in their prison. MCI provides long-distance service at 33 California state prisons, and GTE provides pay-phone service at four.
Full Text:
Copyright Chronicle Publishing Company Aug 17, 1999
Two California senators are trying to stop the state from collecting commissions on collect calls made by state prison inmates, saying the practice gouges the friends and families of prisoners.
State Sens. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, and Richard G. Polanco, D-Los Angeles, have asked the Department of Corrections and the Department of General Services to end the practice, which they say forces people who talk to prisoners to pay just about the highest phone rates in the nation.
The senators were responding to complaints from inmate's families and a recent Chronicle investigation that revealed the state earns as much as 44 cents per dollar on each collect call made from a state prison. Last year, California collected $16 million from prison phone calls, which went to the state's general fund.
"The state is a public service and not in business to make profits off the people," Vasconcellos said. "For the state to make money off the people who can least afford to pay these rates is reprehensible."
The senators said they plan to talk with the corrections and general services departments again this week and if the agencies do not agree to end the commissions, they will ask Gov. Gray Davis to intervene. If Davis does not halt the process, Vasconcellos said, he will propose legislation to stop the commissions.
The senators' actions came at the same time that MCI, which operates most prison pay phones, admitted it overcharged for some calls made by California prisoners. The admission came last week in response to a complaint filed against MCI by a consumer group, which said MCI was systematically overcharging people who accept collect calls from prisoners. MCI said its billing mistakes were isolated and denied widespread overcharging.
In California, state inmates can make only collect calls, and they can use only MCI or GTE -- whichever has the exclusive pay-phone contract in their prison. MCI provides long-distance service at 33 California state prisons, and GTE provides pay-phone service at four.
For each dollar it collects on prison calls, MCI pays the state 44 cents. GTE pays 33 cents.
Critics say this process encourages the state to award prison- phone contracts to the company that pays it the biggest commission, not the one that charges the lowest rates.
Right now, long-distance collect calls from pay phones in state- run prisons cost about 50 cents per minute, on top of a $3 surcharge per call. That rate far exceeds rates charged to most other customers, except for those making operator-assisted calls from places such as airports and hotel rooms during peak weekday hours.
Even on local calls, the prison rate is higher. A 15-minute collect call from San Quentin Prison to Oakland costs about $5. The same call made from a pay phone right outside the prison costs about $2.55.
Prisoner advocates say the high costs cause some families to cut off contact with inmates, which could hurt society. Studies have shown that inmates who keep in touch with family members are less likely to commit another crime once released.
MCI and GTE say some of the money it collects from prison calls pays for mandatory operator assistance, added security features and commissions to the state.
Christina Polley, deputy director of the telecommunications division, said vendors must recoup costs for installing expensive equipment and said companies also run the risk of not being paid for many of the calls they process.
"There is a much higher risk of uncollectable invoices for those calls," Polley said. If the vendors can't make a profit off these calls, she said, the state runs the risk of losing a phone provider all together.
State officials say the commissions California collects pay for costs associated with monitoring inmates who use the phones.
The state will not disclose what it spends on such activities. But consumer advocates, including Gerald Norlander, deputy director of the Public Utility Project in Albany, N.Y., say the state's commissions far exceed its costs.
The state is currently rebidding the pay-phone contracts, which expire this month, and had been expected to select a vendor before the end of August. However, the process has been delayed because the governor has asked state officials to delay any project that's not "mission critical" until after February 2000 to avoid any Y2K problems.
Polley said the general services department hopes to award the contract in November, with implementation scheduled for sometime after February 2000.
She added that commissions for the state are likely to be included in the new contract.
"If the state were to say no commissions, . . . that would not, in and of itself, change what the inmates pay," Polley said. She said the vendors would simply take all the money, instead of sharing it with the state.
"It would not benefit inmates' families, it would benefit vendors," she said.
Many other states also collect commissions on prisoner phone calls. But most of them -- including New York, Florida and Ohio -- send commissions to inmate welfare funds to pay for books, prison education programs and other inmate-related expenses. Only a handful of states, such as Hawaii and Virginia, send commissions to their general funds.
On top of high rates, The Chronicle investigation also revealed that customers are often overcharged for prison calls. Several customers provided The Chronicle with bills showing rates that exceed MCI's published rates. Responding to a complaint filed in June by the Utility Consumers Action Network, MCI told the state Public Utilities Commission it improperly charged a higher rate on calls made by some prisoners.
The Utility Consumers Action Network submitted bills showing that MCI charged some customers higher-priced day rates for prison calls that were made during cheaper night or evening hours.
Other bills showed customers being charged intrastate rates higher than what MCI is supposed to charge, according to tariffs filed with the PUC.
In its filing, MCI admitted that it charged day rates on some night and evening calls and said the intrastate rates it charged some customers do "not exist."
However, the company denied that it "systematically" overcharged customers.
Charles Carbone, who filed the complaint for the consumer group, said, "We have every reason to believe all the bills we've collected are representative of a problem that exists statewide."
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