All,
We would like to do a letter writing campaign on the new phone rates and changes. A couple of us have already sent ours letters to our Representitives and Governor Snyder. As of today, one letter has been received back for the Governor's Office. It usually takes 7-10 letters to get a response, but Snyer's office is reponding.
If you feel the need, please send a letter on the subject with your concerns and questions to the following address and find the sample letter below.:
If you feel the need, please send a letter on the subject with your concerns and questions to the following address and find the sample letter below.:
MDOC Public Information Office
P.O. Box 30003
Lansing, MI 48909
517-373-6391Website to contact any employee of MDOC: http://www.mdoc.state.mi.us/edoc/Governor Snyder's email is: Rick.Snyder@michigan.govIt is most important that you write to your own county's legislature!I believe this is the updated list to find your Senators and Representatives: http://www.michiganvotes.org/Find.aspxAlso, please make sure to include your contact information such as name, address, phone and email. If this information is not on your letter, they do not need to reply.This letter comes from Prison Talk, which has an on-line forum and some great information!
To Whom It May Concern:
Recently the Michigan Department of Corrections signed a new phone contract with PCS Daily Dial and failed to inform prisoners and their family of the change and new price rates until which time the change occurred. The price rates were not known until the moment the phone carrier switched and families were then forced to set up an account with PCS Daily Dial. No one was notified in advance of when the switch would occur, it simply happened. After the switch-over, it was discovered by prisoners and their family and friends that the rates were now almost doubled.
The old rates through Embarq were billed at .12 cents a minute or 1.80 per 15 minute call. Through CBS(Correctional Billing Services)it was 1.80 per 15 minutes plus a .12cent tax making each 15 minute call 1.92. If a family member chose to send money directly to the prisoner to be placed in their account, a 15 minute call would be 1.80.
The change occurred this past week and according to the contract MDOC has signed with PCS, MDOC is paying PCS approximately .04cents a minute.
MDOC pays PCS Daily Dial 60cents for a 15 minute call, the prisoner/family is now charged 3.00 for a 15 minute call.
This 3.00 rate was in effect for a matter of days, until 6/7/11 at which time an additional .20cents was unknowingly added to the 3.00 “for tax.†This “tax†was never mentioned at the time anyone set up their accounts with PCS Daily Dial nor was anyone ever notified of the additional tax amount of .20 cents on 6/7/11. It was mysteriously and automatically deducted from all accounts.
On 6/8/11 a prisoner's family member was informed by PCS that there will now be a 25% tax placed on the 3.00(15 minute call)thus each 15 minute call will go up again to 3.50.
This will now make each call .30cents more than it was the day prior and 1.70 more than a 15 minute call was one week ago. No one from the MDOC or PCS can explain why any increases have occurred, where the additional money is being spent and why the tax increase has also now occurred, repeatedly.
The bottom line is: For a 15 minute call, MDOC will pay PCS Daily Dial 0.60 cents. The prisoner and their families will be paying 3.50 for the same 15 minute call. The 2.90 profit margin is far beyond what the appropriation bill allows for in the current market value. I personally would consider this to be price gouging. If any other entity out there -- gas station, grocery store, internet service, etc. doubled their rates clearly to make a large profit, there would be an uproar and an investigation. Yet we have no one else to buy this service from -- the monopoly on prisoner phone calls in Michigan belongs to one company, and we have no choice but to pay.
As friends and families of an incarcerated loved one, we know how crucial it is to the prisoner's family, their children and the rehabilitation of the prisoner themselves to have frequent contact with one another. This is obviously price gouging at its worst, a practice of a coercive monopoly in which rates are priced far above the market rate that would otherwise prevail in a competitive environment.
According to the 2010 Senate Bill 1153/Appropriations: 2010-2011 Department of Corrections Budget Sec. 219. Any contract for prisoner telephone services entered into after the effective date of this act shall include a condition that fee schedules for prisoner telephone calls, including rates and any surcharges other than those necessary to meet special equipment costs, be the same as fee schedules for calls placed from outside of correctional facilities.
Upon recent investigation, it has now been discovered that the MDOC has elected to add to our phone rates, the cost of special equipment used in seeking illegal cell phones within the facilities The cost of this outrageous high tech equipment is being passed on to the prisoners and families who rely on communication and moral support via telephone. It is deplorable that a small portion of the families who are barely able to afford already infrequent phone contact, are picking up the tab for an entire department to fund security measures that should be included in annual budgets and/or taxes and should already be tracked through routine searches for contraband by paid, trained facility staff.
Though we believe in the importance of maintaining security measures within the facility, and support facility staff, this recent development appears to be an act of desperation and expolitation by the MDOC. According to the contract between MDOC and PCS Daily Dial, it has also been written that prisoners will soon be able to utilize telephonic measures to request and confirm call outs, follow up on release dates, etc. The cost of this new interfacility procedure should be the responsibility of the Department when establishing the MDOC budget, this cost is not the responsibility of the minority of prisoners and families that can afford an occasional telephone call. Could it be that this is also being passed on to the families as well?
As an individual who offers support to an individual incarcerated in The MDOC, and as a citizen of the State of Michigan, I along with many others would like to elevate this matter for further investigation into the MDOC and PCS Daily Dial to prove that this rate hike is within the current constraints of the aforementioned Appropriation Bill 1153 and does not violate the rights of the minority who pay to occasionally communicate with their children, parents, wives and other loved ones.
There is a large group of us -- now numbering in the hundreds -- who are outraged. We are putting together petitions, writing letters, making calls and contacting those who head up MDOC. We are also emailing this message to all of our state Senators, Representatives and Governor Snyder. It is our full intention to not only get this ridiculous price gouging eliminated, but also to expose the Michigan Department of Corrections for their unethical and opaque policies that are directly affecting the well-being and financial health of so many of our state's struggling citizens. Personally, at this point in time, I am furious -- and deeply ashamed to be a Michigander. Instead of working with the families and friends of the inmates to provide clear communication and reasonable increases in rates, it appears as if the MDOC has decided to make a profit off of us. How horribly sad. It is our hope that someone will step up to the plate and rectify this travesty.
Respectfully,
(sign your name)
Recently the Michigan Department of Corrections signed a new phone contract with PCS Daily Dial and failed to inform prisoners and their family of the change and new price rates until which time the change occurred. The price rates were not known until the moment the phone carrier switched and families were then forced to set up an account with PCS Daily Dial. No one was notified in advance of when the switch would occur, it simply happened. After the switch-over, it was discovered by prisoners and their family and friends that the rates were now almost doubled.
The old rates through Embarq were billed at .12 cents a minute or 1.80 per 15 minute call. Through CBS(Correctional Billing Services)it was 1.80 per 15 minutes plus a .12cent tax making each 15 minute call 1.92. If a family member chose to send money directly to the prisoner to be placed in their account, a 15 minute call would be 1.80.
The change occurred this past week and according to the contract MDOC has signed with PCS, MDOC is paying PCS approximately .04cents a minute.
MDOC pays PCS Daily Dial 60cents for a 15 minute call, the prisoner/family is now charged 3.00 for a 15 minute call.
This 3.00 rate was in effect for a matter of days, until 6/7/11 at which time an additional .20cents was unknowingly added to the 3.00 “for tax.†This “tax†was never mentioned at the time anyone set up their accounts with PCS Daily Dial nor was anyone ever notified of the additional tax amount of .20 cents on 6/7/11. It was mysteriously and automatically deducted from all accounts.
On 6/8/11 a prisoner's family member was informed by PCS that there will now be a 25% tax placed on the 3.00(15 minute call)thus each 15 minute call will go up again to 3.50.
This will now make each call .30cents more than it was the day prior and 1.70 more than a 15 minute call was one week ago. No one from the MDOC or PCS can explain why any increases have occurred, where the additional money is being spent and why the tax increase has also now occurred, repeatedly.
The bottom line is: For a 15 minute call, MDOC will pay PCS Daily Dial 0.60 cents. The prisoner and their families will be paying 3.50 for the same 15 minute call. The 2.90 profit margin is far beyond what the appropriation bill allows for in the current market value. I personally would consider this to be price gouging. If any other entity out there -- gas station, grocery store, internet service, etc. doubled their rates clearly to make a large profit, there would be an uproar and an investigation. Yet we have no one else to buy this service from -- the monopoly on prisoner phone calls in Michigan belongs to one company, and we have no choice but to pay.
As friends and families of an incarcerated loved one, we know how crucial it is to the prisoner's family, their children and the rehabilitation of the prisoner themselves to have frequent contact with one another. This is obviously price gouging at its worst, a practice of a coercive monopoly in which rates are priced far above the market rate that would otherwise prevail in a competitive environment.
According to the 2010 Senate Bill 1153/Appropriations: 2010-2011 Department of Corrections Budget Sec. 219. Any contract for prisoner telephone services entered into after the effective date of this act shall include a condition that fee schedules for prisoner telephone calls, including rates and any surcharges other than those necessary to meet special equipment costs, be the same as fee schedules for calls placed from outside of correctional facilities.
Upon recent investigation, it has now been discovered that the MDOC has elected to add to our phone rates, the cost of special equipment used in seeking illegal cell phones within the facilities The cost of this outrageous high tech equipment is being passed on to the prisoners and families who rely on communication and moral support via telephone. It is deplorable that a small portion of the families who are barely able to afford already infrequent phone contact, are picking up the tab for an entire department to fund security measures that should be included in annual budgets and/or taxes and should already be tracked through routine searches for contraband by paid, trained facility staff.
Though we believe in the importance of maintaining security measures within the facility, and support facility staff, this recent development appears to be an act of desperation and expolitation by the MDOC. According to the contract between MDOC and PCS Daily Dial, it has also been written that prisoners will soon be able to utilize telephonic measures to request and confirm call outs, follow up on release dates, etc. The cost of this new interfacility procedure should be the responsibility of the Department when establishing the MDOC budget, this cost is not the responsibility of the minority of prisoners and families that can afford an occasional telephone call. Could it be that this is also being passed on to the families as well?
As an individual who offers support to an individual incarcerated in The MDOC, and as a citizen of the State of Michigan, I along with many others would like to elevate this matter for further investigation into the MDOC and PCS Daily Dial to prove that this rate hike is within the current constraints of the aforementioned Appropriation Bill 1153 and does not violate the rights of the minority who pay to occasionally communicate with their children, parents, wives and other loved ones.
There is a large group of us -- now numbering in the hundreds -- who are outraged. We are putting together petitions, writing letters, making calls and contacting those who head up MDOC. We are also emailing this message to all of our state Senators, Representatives and Governor Snyder. It is our full intention to not only get this ridiculous price gouging eliminated, but also to expose the Michigan Department of Corrections for their unethical and opaque policies that are directly affecting the well-being and financial health of so many of our state's struggling citizens. Personally, at this point in time, I am furious -- and deeply ashamed to be a Michigander. Instead of working with the families and friends of the inmates to provide clear communication and reasonable increases in rates, it appears as if the MDOC has decided to make a profit off of us. How horribly sad. It is our hope that someone will step up to the plate and rectify this travesty.
Respectfully,
(sign your name)
We hope you can write even if it's just a short letter. If you would like you can send your letter to us and we will distribute.
Thank you all for your hard work!
Citizens for Prison Reform
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"
-Martin Luther King
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI was doing a search on the phone issue in Michigan and came across this link. I am ecstatic to find this here and had no idea your blog had posted this letter. I am the author of this letter and I just wanted to express my gratefulness for making this available to as many people as possible! This is what it is all about!
With that said, I must include you in the thank you email and editorial that has also been passed on to those who made this a success!
Kudos! and great site!
"It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People"
I would like to extend a big thank you to all of the individuals who got involved on this phone issue by writing letters, making phone calls, showing up to the protest and researching the details that ultimately are in the process of being changed.
There were many who wanted to attend the protest on Tuesday but were unable to due to travel distance, the high cost of fuel and work restraints. Though they weren't there in person, they did what they could in other ways that brought attention to this matter and as a result we received an equal amount of interest from the media which helps tremendously on educating the public as well.
A big thank you to Michael Steinburg of the ACLU for his help and sending and Beile his wonderful legal intern to the protest to support us, Diane Bukowski for her coverage of the protest in the Voice of Detroit and for her future publication of my articles from the Broo and definitely for standing with us in the humidity for half the day! To Barbara Levine and the entire CAPPS organization, members of Mi-Cure, the media who allowed our voices to be heard and last but definitely not least the prisoners who supported this endeavor and sent me the thank you card for fighting for their need to communicate with their families.
A special and most grateful thank you to the Editor and the Writers on Broowaha, without this "Treasure Trove" the publicity brought to this issue would have been significantly less powerful.The parents, spouses and children involved with a loved one in the system extend their deepest gratitude to this outlet as well. The amount of awareness brought to this issue, directly from this site is immeasurable!
To the citizensforprisoners.blogspot.com for making the original letter to the Senators and Reps, etc available right here for all the family and friends to have immediate access.
It is my hope that what we have worked hard at over the last 30 days, continues to make a difference in the lives of those who struggle through the mental and emotional stress of incarceration and the additional financial burden that the high cost of communication can add to the top of it. It is very promising that the bill passed legislation and has made it in front of the governor, we can only hope that the resolution is a long term resolution and there are no more ambiguous terms, exceptions, justifications or last minute changes.
In closing, I would like to say that it took the collaboration of many people from many walks of life to make this happen, from the head of organizations and legal teams, to the families enduring a loved one in the system- right down to the prisoners themselves, to bring light and justice to all lives that are involved with the DOC. I certainly hope that this action sets the stage for future changes, not only in how the Department moves forward in making promising changes but in how actively we all get involved on important issues as well.
Again, my gratitude to those who were diligent in supporting the families and the prisoners in any way they could.
Cathryn Johnson-Bachus
Oh, that's just great that you found us! We also had some people who made it on Tuesday and many wrote letters. Just as we say, change happens in groups and if we remain silent, there will be no change.
ReplyDeletePlease come back anytime!