A Proposal on Cell Phone Jamming

A bill headed to the floor of the U.S. Senate would allow prison officials to use cell phone jamming technology inside correctional institutions to stop prisoners from using illegal phones. While there has been some controversy over this bill, it has focused around the privacy line we're crossing in allowing the use of jamming technology for the first time. There has been too little discussion of the reason most prisoners want and use cell phones - not to plan crimes but to call loved ones.

It's true that some prisoners have used mobile phones to plan crimes, and this should be stopped. Evidence is anecdotal, however, and I seriously doubt there's a crime epidemic originating from cell phones in cells.

If jamming can be conducted efficiently, however, I support it. It's prevention rather than punishment. But this bill should address the wider problem by taking on the issue of access to family contact and the cost of telephone calls inside prisons. After the jump, take action to urge a compromise on this bill that considers the prisoners.

Too often, laws addressing prison conditions focus on a narrow problem without considering an expansion of services that would have greater impact. I wrote recently that prisoners in at least ten states pay $1 per minute for out of state calls, and 44 states take kickbacks from phone companies, which overcharge prisoners and share the profits with state governments. These policies have contributed to the proliferation of mobile phones in prisons, and they have separated prisoners from their loved ones on the outside, making release and readjustment more difficult for hundreds of thousands of people.

Here's a proposal: The Senate bill would allow states to ask the FCC for permission to use the jamming technology. I suggest the bill be amended to allow states to make this request only if they have followed Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma and Rhode Island in turning down the phone company kickbacks on calls and passing the savings on to prisoners. Phone companies and state governments would fight this amendment, and they would have the upper hand because prisoners don't have lobbyists. All the more reason to take action today - we're the only lobbyists prisoners have.

Ask your Senators to add this amendment today.

More on this story from the AP and Wired Magazine.

Follow the bill at opencongress.org.