Families in New Jersey are spending $13 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. New Jersey’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 phone calls free is the most cost-effective, evidence-based program a prison or jail could institute.

We should be encouraging communication and connecting families, not exploiting it and tearing them apart. Assembly Bill 3988 and Senate Bill 2526 would make phone calls free in New Jersey's prisons and jails for incarcerated people and their families. The bills need a small budget appropriation. With your support we can get the Senate and Assembly Public Safety committees to vote favorably on these bills, clearing major hurdles in the legislative process.