Liberate Our Pensions: Our Demands
The following demands were issued to Platinum Equity in a letter dated March 19, 2019.
We mandate that Platinum Equity commit to:
Meet the Operational Reforms outlined below with regard to Securus
Exit its investment in Securus by year-end 2020
Not invest in any other correctional assets in any future fund
Operational Reforms
As it relates to telephone services:
Provide free phone calls to juveniles for all agency clients
Create one flat rate across all call types (e.g. local, intrastate, long distance) as done contractually for many agency clients
Offer every agency client an agency-paid option with a fixed rate contract for unlimited calls
Move to a standardized per minute rate structure for all calls that eliminates upcharges for the first minute of call
Cap the price of 15-minute phone call at $0.75, including transaction costs, for all billing methods
Allow account customers to deposit as much as $300 in a single transaction and cap deposit fee at 3%
As it relates to video calling services:
Rebrand this service as video calling (rather than video visitation), which has inappropriately sought to synonymize video calls with visits
Work with agency clients that removed in-person visits as required by contract or suggested in negotiations to return in-person visits
Move to a standardized per minute rate structure as is employed with telephone calls instead of a flat rate for a specified period
Provide all incarcerated people in the custody of agency clients with video calling services with at least one free internet video call per week
Offer every agency client an agency-paid option with a fixed rate contract for unlimited video calls
Cap the price of a 30-minute video call at $5.00, including transaction costs, for all billing methods
As it relates to services provided by Securus’ subsidiary JPay:
Money Transfers. Change cost structure to a simple percentage fee no higher than 3% of deposit amount from the tiered structure that over taxes smaller deposits
Email. Make email services resemble email services outside correctional facilities to the extent possible (e.g. remove the max word count, allow attachments without the need for additional stamps, etc.) and cap the cost of a stamp at $0.15
Tablet Content. Ensure that there are free options for all content (e.g. e-books, music, games, etc.) in every contractual agreement with an agency client and that pricing is commensurate with correctional wages
Parole/Probation Processing Fees. Cap the additive fees associated with paying a parole or probation supervision fee to an agency client to 3%
Debit Release Cards. Eliminate all fees aside from currency conversion fees for international purchases and a max $2.00 monthly service charge after the first month
As it relates to other services provided by Securus or any of its subsidiaries:
Voicemail. Cap the price of a voicemail at $0.50
Voice Biometrics. Contractually commit to never selling voice print data to law enforcement agencies, protecting against the release of voice print data to prosecutors, erasing the voice print data of anyone who has been released from incarceration, and never using voice biometrics to monitor people who are not incarcerated in any way
Electronic Monitoring. Encourage agency clients to assume cost of electronic monitoring and, where bore by the person wearing the electronic monitor, cap the cost of such surveillance to $5.00 per month
As it relates to any other practices of Securus and the related practices of Platinum Equity:
Commit to never challenging legislation that regulates the cost of or operational practices associated with Securus’ services or products through litigation or lobbying
Commit to not using the fulfillment of any of the above demands until all have been met in marketing or fundraising or with media