Help connect New Jersey families with incarcerated loved ones

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.

Several states and counties nationwide have already taken this important step, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. Many others are currently considering it because the benefits are clear. Tell your elected representative that it’s time to protect New Jersey’s families and promote public safety. 

Send an email and Tweet at your state elected officials to protect families and promote public safety by making prison and jail phone calls free in New Jersey.