PORTLAND, Ore. - In a move at the very end of the year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken a step toward examining the high prices families pay to stay in touch by phone with loved ones behind bars. A 15-minute phone call made from prison can cost family members up to $20. By announcing a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, the FCC has finally responded to an effort of more than 10 years urging the agency to look into prison telephone service contracts.

Steven Renderos, a national organizer around the issue for the Media Action Grassroots Network, calls the step forward "great."

"The real victims of the high cost of these phone calls are the families that have to pay the phone bills. It's not the inmates themselves; it's the families that end up paying the phone bills."

Renderos and others credit stepped-up activism over the past year or so, including support from the makers of a recent, well-reviewed film, Middle of Nowhere, which shed some light on the tribulations of prisoners' families. Last fall, it was shown in a special Washington, D.C., screening for FCC staff and commissioners.

Family contact with incarcerated loved ones is essential, Renderos says, and it often has to be by telephone.

"The Federal Bureau of Prisons acknowledged themselves that phone calls play a very critical role in reducing recidivism. There's been countless studies done about the frequency and contact with families, and how that's necessary."

The FCC was responding to a petition filed years ago on behalf of Martha Wright, a grandmother of a former prison inmate. One of her lawyers, Lee Petro, credits the breakthrough to pressure from public interest groups that included the screening of "Middle of Nowhere."

"A comprehensive showing from all different angles - from the right, from conservative organizations, from the left - as well as doing a showing at the FCC of the movie, really put the pressure on the FCC and the FCC staff to explain why there hadn't been action over the past 10 years."

Coming so close to year's end, Petro says the FCC move did not get as much publicity as it might have, but he calls it an important step, nonetheless. Now, activists have to convince the FCC to come up with rules capping the onerous phone rates.

Information about the film, which received Best Director honors at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, is available at www.middlenowhere.com.



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Loretta Rush, Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, has released the 2023-24 annual report for the state's courts.

The report shows Indiana's judicial system is taking big steps to tackle the mental health crisis. The Supreme Court recently launched the Office of Behavioral Health and hired Brittany Kelly as its behavioral health specialist, making Indiana the tenth state in the country to embed a mental health professional within its judiciary.

"She's off and running. She's had hundreds of inquiries from around the state. She's meeting with judges," Rush outlined. "She's helping with things like competency evaluations, access to Medicaid, how do I get somebody who's going through dementia through the court system?"

Rush pointed out Kelly will help the courts manage the mental health and substance use issues flooding Indiana's courtrooms daily. The latest report shows more than 1 million cases passed through the courts this past fiscal year, including almost 20,000 involuntary mental health hearings and a sharp rise in protective orders for domestic violence.

Rush highlighted the strain on local courts, noting about 70% of people in jail have behavioral health issues.

"How do we make sure we have diversion programs in place? How do we make sure that the services we're ordering for people to do are the right services?" Rush asked. "We've done a lot at the national level with regard to substance abuse and mental health, realizing programs that are working."

The judiciary is working with state agencies to reform policies and address the impact of mental health issues on the system. Kelly has training in both social work and law, and helps judges connect with treatment resources to get people the support they need and keep them out of jail.


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Survivors of crime are speaking out against Proposition 36, which goes before California voters in November.

The ballot measure would increase penalties for some theft and drug crimes - and undo parts of Proposition 47, which took savings from decreased incarceration and put the money into harm-reduction programs.

Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, spoke Wednesday at the opening of a new trauma recovery center in Oakland.

"It's pushing the state to move back towards 'tough-on-crime.' We are pushing back on that. You need to prioritize resources to create trauma-recovery centers because this is the way to create safety in our community." Hollins said.

Supporters of Prop. 36 say current laws are too lenient, particularly concerning retail theft. But the state legislative analyst has suggested Prop. 36 will send many more people to jail, increasing criminal-justice costs anywhere from tens of millions to the low hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Hollins said that would mean less money for programs that actually address poverty and desperation - the root cause of crime.

"Folks who have been touched by incarceration, folks who are experiencing homelessness, folks who are experiencing barriers to employment, they can actually get a full range of services to stabilize," Hollins added. "Think about how impactful this will be if we're able to continue expanding this model."

Advocates of Prop. 36 project that it would mean $850 million less over the next decade for trauma recovery centers, mental health, drug treatment, victim services, re-entry and crime-prevention programs.

Groups across Alabama are joining forces to advocate for big changes to what they see as the state's flawed parole system.

In a panel discussion led by the group Alabama Values, speakers focused on improving the parole process and addressing its broader impact.

John Woods, who spent 10 years repeatedly being denied parole, shared his story. He said the system creates a sense of hopelessness, not only for those behind bars but also their families and shared a recent conversation with another person still waiting for a chance at parole.

"He said, 'I'm going out into society every day working a real a job,'" Woods explained. "He said, 'I go home every other week.' He said, 'I haven't did nothing and I've been there for seven years.' He said, 'What more can you get out of me in a work release?'"

Despite work release programs proving many individuals are not a threat to public safety, panelists noted few are granted parole. The latest Alabama Department of Corrections report showed state prisons are holding more than twice their intended capacity. The overcrowding, combined with rising violence, has heightened concerns.

Katie Glenn, policy associate for the Southern Poverty Law Center, cited the parole board's inconsistent application of its own guidelines as a major issue.

"The guidelines that the parole board uses, if they actually followed them, something like 70% of people who are up for parole would be paroled," Glenn contended. "I think now, we're seeing numbers as high as maybe, like, in the 20%."

Alison Mollman, interim legal director for the ACLU of Alabama, suggested borrowing parole models from other states to make improvements, including offering virtual attendance for parole hearings and reducing the lengthy wait times between hearings.

"In Alabama, you can be set off -- or you can have to wait for another parole hearing -- up to five years," Mollman pointed out. "That's a really, really long time, and I think a lot of times we hear, in the legislature, them wanting to move things so that everybody has to wait five years. But in states like Louisiana, most people wait one year."

Mollman also favors gradual release programs to reintegrate people through structured stages, as well as restorative justice practices, which allow some offenders to seek reconciliation with victims. The Alabama Legislature's next opportunity to address parole system issues is in its 2025 session.