Facebook, Felons, and the Contraband Cell Phone Challenge

Oct 5, 2011 | 51 Comments

First, thank you all for your comments since we’ve updated the look and feel of our blog.  We hope you find it easier to navigate and find the posts that are of most interest to you. Our last post in particular – regarding “cell” phones in UK facilities – drew a lot of comments (commenter [...]

“Cell” Phones

“Cell” Phones

Sep 21, 2011 | 62 Comments

A pilot program being considered by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Justice could put phones in inmate’s individual units, or cells.  Officials cite two rationales for the program: first that it could reduce the growing quantity of contraband mobile phones being smuggled into the facilities and second, that it could reduce the lines and waiting [...]

Seattle News Station Looks at Inmate Email

Jun 29, 2011 | 5 Comments

We caught this story on King 5 News out of Seattle last night.  The story examines the practice of loaning inmates money for regular postage against their inmate trust account, and suggests that the Washington Department of Corrections (WADOC) is trying out some “high-tech ways” to keep costs down and their operating budgets healthy. King [...]

All the News that Fits the Prison

May 20, 2011 | 4 Comments

Article on money-saving, community-building prison newscasts echoes JPay We came across an interesting article this week by Michael Rosenwald in the Washington Post – The News Behind Bars – which describes a closed-circuit newscast at the Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown, Md.  According to the Post article, the newscast, produced and conducted by inmates, [...]

Gunn Misses Mark, Then Hits It

May 16, 2011 | 4 Comments

JPay comments on commentator’s column The Muskegon Chronicle columnist Steve Gunn wrote in an op-ed two weeks ago about the “postcard only” policy at the Muskegon County Jail.  The facility had been considering the suspension of sealed letters to inmates, instead allowing only stamped postcards to be delivered.  According to Gunn’s column, a group called [...]