MARYLAND

Families in Maryland are spending over $12 million each year to stay in touch with their incarcerated loved ones, a cash cow for prison telecom vendor Global Tel*Link (now known as ViaPath). As a result, one in three families with an incarcerated loved one goes into debt, and of those carrying this burden, 87% are women — largely Black and brown women. Maryland’s families should not have to choose between paying rent or paying for calls with their loved ones behind bars.

This exploitation is not just separating families, including children from their parents, but negatively impacting correctional staff and public safety. Incarcerated people who are in contact with their community are more likely to have hope, participate in rehabilitative programs, engage in positive behaviors while inside, and reenter society successfully upon release. Making communication free is the most cost-effective, evidence-based program a prison could institute.

We should be encouraging communication and connecting families, not exploiting it and tearing them apart. Senate Bill 0948 and House Bill 1366 would make communication in Maryland's prisons free for incarcerated people and their families. The bill needs a small budget appropriation. With your support we can get an appropriation in the legislative budget and move these bills through the hearings and to the floor for a vote, clearing major hurdles in the legislative process.