Two Companies Rake in Big Profits from Billion-Dollar Prisoner Phone Call Industry
Those unfortunate enough to be picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) often find themselves locked away in detention facilities that aren’t governed by the same rules as state prisons.
At the Contra Costa West County Detention Facility (WCDF) in Richmond, California, one of the differences is the cost of making a phone call. A couple of weeks ago, protesters gathered outside the facility that houses 1,100 prisoners to argue that what amounts to upwards of a $20 charge for a 15-minute phone call is cruel and inhumane treatment of inmates.
A call from inside WCDF costs $3.25 for the initial connection, with charges up to 25 cents a minute for in-state calls and 30 cents a minute for out-of-state. Calls are often dropped, requiring a reconnection charge. Unlike state prisons, which have been constrained by law since 2007 from extracting large concessions in phone service, facilities like WCDF can cut a deal that works best for them.
Officials of a national campaign, called Phone Justice for Immigrants in Detention, say Global Tel*Link (GTL) pays Contra Costa County a commission of up to 57% on phone calls, in addition to a $75,000 bonus for giving it the contract. The county received $653,506 in commissions from GTL in fiscal year 2011-12, according to the immigrants group.
http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is-the-money-going/two-companies-rake-in-big-profits-from-billion-dollar-prisoner-phone-call-industry-130526?news=850121
= new reply since forum marked as read
but a lot of other folk are more concerned with the TV schedule 
