Prison Legal News filed suit in Hinds County Chancery Court yesterday to force the Mississippi Department of Corrections to release a copy of the state's prison telephone contracts, according to a release.

As part of a nationwide research project in conjunction with University of Michigan professor Steven J. Jackson, PLN has requested copies of contracts between prison systems and companies that provide prison telephone services.

Such contracts include fees and per-minute phone rates that far exceed those charged to members of the general public, averaging up to $1.00 per minute for interstate calls. The contracts also routinely include "commissions" (kickbacks) paid to government agencies of up to 60% of the profits generated from prison phone calls. Those costs are overwhelmingly paid by prisoners' family members, not by prisoners.

Of all the state corrections departments, only the MDOC refused to provide a copy of its prison telephone contract and the amount of prison phone commissions paid to the state, despite a request by PLN made under the Mississippi Public Records Act.

The release states that in an earlier case, Global Tel*Link, the company providing telephone services in Mississippi, had the court seal their records without an evidentiary hearing.

Global Tel "presented a one-sided and incomplete statement of the relevant facts and the applicable law" when obtaining the protective order, according to PLN's lawsuit.

"Contracts entered into by the state which involve public funds are public documents," stated PLN editor Paul Wright. "As such, the prison phone contract and commission information must be produced pursuant to Mississippi's public records act, and Global Tel*Link, a private for-profit company, cannot hide such documents from members of the public. Such secrecy is unacceptable and contrary to public policy."

"Mississippi citizens who have family members in prison often want to stay in touch by telephone, and they should be charged fair rates. The rates that Global Tel*Link charges, and the amount of money received by the State, is the public's business," added PLN attorney Robert McDuff.

Previous Comments

ID

144577

Comment

This article makes my day. How dare state agencies try to keep public information hidden from tax payers? Corruption grows in darkness.

Author

Brent Cox

Date

2009-03-11T10:51:42-06:00

ID

144580

Comment

If I understand this correctly, Global has a lot of problems, and they're not just in Mississippi. If the truth is out there, it'll show up.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-03-11T10:55:07-06:00