Families are increasingly economically insecure as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, making the egregious cost of phone calls with incarcerated loved ones almost entirely out of reach
NEW YORK, NY — On Thursday, 302 advocacy organizations, foundations, faith-based groups, and elected officials delivered an urgent letter to the National Governors Association, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and National Sheriffs’ Association calling on state and local leaders to use their executive powers to stop charging families to communicate with incarcerated loved ones and make prison and jail calls free. The letter was drafted and organized by organizations led by directly-impacted advocates, including the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), Legal Service for Prisoners with Children, Essie Justice Group, and We Got Us Now supported by Worth Rises and Color Of Change.
As prisons and jails become epicenters of the COVID-19 crisis, state officials and administrators have subjected incarcerated people to inexcusable neglect. Their attitudes and inaction have allowed existing crises of inaccessible hygiene, inadequate healthcare, substandard nutrition, and a general lack of care to manifest with a devastating human cost. Rather than addressing these grave injustices, correctional administrators have resorted to suspending visits and perpetual lockdowns, leaving incarcerated people in torturous isolation. Now, more than ever, calls constitute a critical lifeline.
Yet, during these trying times, prison telecom corporations and their correctional partners have continued to charge families with incarcerated loved ones egregious rates for phone calls, video calls, and emails. And while always a struggle, for families with incarcerated loved ones, who are more likely to face joblessness, houselessness, and new economic stressors at this time, the costs have become insurmountable. They now face bleak and impossible choices between checking on the health of an incarcerated spouse or feeding the children in their care.
The letter demands that governors, mayors, and sheriffs take immediate action to ensure that all of their constituents have free access to basic and essential communication with their family and loved ones in this uncertain and trying time and beyond. A public petition associated with the letter has over 20,000 signatures from people across the country.
Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises, said, “As we near the end of the second month of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are only beginning to see the devastating health and socioeconomic consequences the virus will have on incarcerated people and their families. Now, more than ever, families need to be able to connect with their loved ones, including those most vulnerable in our prisons and jails. But instead, predatory corporations are separating families by continuing to charge egregious call rates. Governors, mayors, and sheriffs have the power to protect and connect families and must do so by making all communication in prisons and jails free.”
“Governors cannot stand by and do nothing in the face of price-gouging and profiteering,” said Rashad Robinson, President of Color Of Change. “As if people in jails and prison aren’t in enough danger right now, governors are letting corporations like Securus and Global Tel Link charge exorbitant fees for phone calls, breaking apart families at the very moment they need each other most. With all visitations suspended, phone calls are the only means of connection. In addition to being there for their families, they also need to report on what is happening inside the jail and prison walls, so the truth about how the virus is affecting them can get out. Preventing the flow of information right now is dangerous and will cost lives. Governors must stop these corporations from cutting off contact between incarcerated people and their families and draining those families financially in the middle of an economic meltdown. Governors must stop the price-gouging and make these calls free.”
“Our sisters remain locked in cages as COVID-19 continues to threaten their lives and the lives of their loved ones - only further unmasking a system rooted in white supremacy and the exploitation of our people, said Andrea James, Executive Director of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls. “Foremost, we demand release. And then, we demand to know our sisters are safe. We demand that people’s lives mean more than profit. We must have free phone calls so that we can hear the voices of our grandmas, our aunties, our sisters, and our nieces, and let them know we are still fighting for their freedom.”
“We go from being arrested to being hostages of a white supremacist state that pillages our communities only to use these stolen resources to further exploit our incarcerated loved ones. This is an abomination. And it must end. Legal Services for Prisoners with Children demand free phone calls for all incarcerated people and their families. There should never be a time where a child cannot hear their mother or father say, “I love you,” said Dorsey Nunn, Executive Director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and Founder of All of Us or None.
Ebony Underwood, Founder/Chief Executive Officer of WE GOT US NOW, states, “With little to no communication with our parents behind bars, children across the country are frightened, anxious, and frustrated by the lack of compassion and humanity for our families by our leaders. WE GOT US NOW demands action. FREE phone calls are not a privilege, but a necessity for children with incarcerated parents in this pandemic moment.”
“Families with incarcerated loved ones are understandably scared about the spread of COVID-19 in our nation’s prisons and jails. The situation gets scarier when families don’t hear from their loved ones. We need to make that communication easier by making it free - now,” said Kevin Ring, President of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM).
“Before COVID-19 hit, as women with incarcerated loved ones, we were already separated and isolated from our families inside prisons, jails, and immigrant detention centers. The pandemic has magnified our isolation while our loved ones’ lives are in imminent danger,” said Zoe Wilmott, Interim Director of Membership and Organizing of Essie Justice Group. “As COVID-19 spreads rapidly throughout prisons across the nation, our incarcerated loved ones’ lives are on the line, and phone calls are all we have left. We demand free phone calls with our incarcerated loved ones during this pandemic and beyond.”
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