Prisoners' Phone Calls Will Soon Be Free in New York State
It will join five other states and New York City, all of which have moved in recent years to adopt similar policies. But the change by New York State is not being accomplished legislatively; instead, it is a result of negotiations between the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and its telecom provider.
Beginning August 1, the department will pay the provider, Securus Technologies, 1.5 cents per minute for the calls, which the agency described as one of the lowest rates in the country, and spend $9 million on the initiative this year.
Currently, the state's prisoners receive up to three free calls per week, each lasting up to 15 minutes. Calls beyond that cost 2.4 cents per minute plus service fees, which the state does not now cover.
Daniel F. Martuscello III, the agency's commissioner, said phone calls created a safer environment in prisons and prepared incarcerated people for life on the outside.
'We have to provide them with services that return them to society as productive members, as mothers, fathers, husbands, wives,' he said.
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