| Releases
& Statements
Contact: Frank Sobrino
O: (212) 669-4193
For Immediate Release: December 7,
2006
Gotbaum
Calls on Court of Appeals to Overturn Excessive Phone Fees
New York State and MCI/WorldCom are
forcing families who receive calls from incarcerated loved ones
to pay inflated collect call fees, according to an amici curiae
brief filed December 1 by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum in Walton
v. New York State Department of Correctional Services and MCI.
“Many families can’t afford
to travel from the city to visit relatives in upstate prisons,”
Gotbaum said. “The telephone is the only way to keep in
touch, but the collect call rates make even a simple phone call
too expensive.”
New York State prisoners may only
speak to their families by placing a call through MCI/WorldCom
(now Verizon), which has the sole contract for prison telephone
service. The individual who accepts the call is charged a $3 connection
fee and 16 cents per minute, 630 percent more than the average
consumer rate. State prisoners make about 7 million collect calls
a year costing an estimated $39 million. The State keeps 57.5
percent of those funds, or $22.4 million. New York State charges
among the highest rates of the 42 states that take part in similar
phone charge systems.
Two-thirds of the state’s prison
population comes from New York City, and the majority of prisoners
come from low-income neighborhoods. The state’s exorbitant
collect call fees therefore disproportionately affect New York
City residents, most of whom cannot afford them.
The brief asks the Court of Appeals
to consider the harmful effects of the fees on family preservation
and low-income communities and to reverse the decision of the
Appellate Division in the matter of Walton so families are not
forced to pay excessive phone rates when accepting a collect call
from an incarcerated individual.
“It’s absolutely unfair
that innocent families are being charged a backdoor tax just to
talk to their loved ones,” Gotbaum said. “I’m
urging the Court of Appeals to do the right thing and prevent
the New York State Department of Correctional Services and MCI
from charging these excessive collect call fees.”
Fourteen City Council members joined
the Public Advocate in seeking Court recognition as amici curiae.
They are: Gale Brewer, Yvette D. Clarke, Bill de Blasio, James
Gennaro, Robert Jackson, Letitia James, G. Oliver Koppell, Miguel
Martinez, Hiram Monserrate, Annabel Palma, Diana Reyna, Larry
B. Seabrook, Helen Sears and Kendall Stewart.
* * *
|
