Communication

Rather than encouraging people in prison to stay in contact with their loved ones, prisons and jails frequently restrict communication — and even partner with private companies to exploit families trying to stay in touch. We’re exposing these abusive practices and fighting back.

Below is some of our key research and organizing. (See also our related organizing around preserving face-to-face family contact in prisons.)


Campaigns

  • report thumbnailRegulating the prison and jail phone industry
    Incarcerated people and their families often have to pay $1/minute or more for a phone call. Why? Because prisons and jails profit by granting monopoly telephone contracts to the company that will charge families the most.
  • report thumbnailProving the importance of family contact for incarcerated people
    We've rounded up over 50 years of empirical evidence that visitation, mail, phone, and other forms of contact between incarcerated people and their families have positive impacts for everyone — including better health, reduced recidivism, and improvement in school.
  • report thumbnailFighting sheriffs who want to restrict jail mail
    Some jails around the country have implemented cruel policies that limit the personal mail people can receive to postcards. We’ve released two major reports to support the fight against harmful letter bans.
  • report thumbnailProtecting in-person visits from the predatory “video calling” industry
    We uncovered how jails collude with telecom companies to eliminate human contact, by replacing in-person visits with expensive, low-quality video chats. Our research and campaign is helping preserve face-to-face visits.
  • report thumbnailInvestigating electronic messaging and tablets in prisons
    Prisons and jails are partnering with private companies to offer email services, but there’s a catch: The companies charge incarcerated people for every message they send. We're staying ahead of these profiteers by exposing the hidden costs in their digital offerings.


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