The Keeping Families Connected / No Cost Calls Coalition Urges the Legislature to MakePrison Phone and Jail Phone Calls Free, Fully Funded, and Guaranteed in the MA FY23 Budget

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Boston – June 2, 2022 – After years of organizing, language ensuring free phone calls for people incarcerated in Massachusetts jails and prisons has passed in the House and Senate budgets for the first time. The Keeping Families Connected / No Cost Calls Coalition deeply thanks Sen. Creem, Rep. Tyler, and all […]

MA Supreme Court: Sheriff Hodgson Can Keep Prisoners’ Phone Fees

WBSMBy Kate RobinsonMay 17, 2022 The state’s highest court has affirmed today that Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson is legally authorized to collect revenues for his office through phone service fees. A May 2018 lawsuit taken by four people against Hodgson and county telephone contractor Securus Technologies had claimed that payments from the contractor to the sheriff’s […]

SJC says sheriffs can charge commissions for prison phone calls

Court leaves issue up to Legislature Commonwealth MagazineBy Shira SchoenbergMay 17, 2022 MASSACHUSETTS SHERIFFS HAVE the legal authority to raise revenue from contracts for inmate phone calls, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Tuesday. Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, whose office was at the center of the lawsuit, called the decision “a win for taxpayers.” “In […]

AG’s Office Issues Warning About Scams Targeting Friends and Family of Incarcerated People

Partnering With Massachusetts Department of Correction, Prisoners’ Legal Services, and Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association in Providing Tips on How to Protect Against Fraud Office of Attorney General Maura HealeyMay 2, 2022 BOSTON — Attorney General Maura Healey is partnering with the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC), Prisoners’ Legal Services (PLS), and the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association (MSA) to advise […]

Letter to the Editor – December 29

The Somerville TimesDecember 29, 2021Aaron Steinberg To the Editor: Every day, incarcerated people and their loved ones shoulder exorbitant costs to call each other because for-profit companies charge about four times the actual cost of phone service. As a result, one in three families with a loved one in prison will go into debt to […]

For relatives of the incarcerated, holidays are marked by grief and loss

The Boston GlobeDecember 23, 2021By Julia Carlin Shanita Jefferson filled a Christmas package with 75 family photographs, some handwritten letters, and a drawing from her daughter. She sent it to her mother at MCI-Framingham Correctional Facility. Jefferson, of Weymouth, said she hates knowing that her mother, who has been in prison for 31 years, will […]

Can sheriffs collect lucrative commissions from inmate phone calls?

Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments in case seeking to limit fees Commonwealth MagazineOctober 27, 2021By Shira Schoenberg FOR YEARS, Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson’s office collected hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in telephone fees paid by family members, attorneys, and others who received calls from county jail inmates.  Similar structures are set up across the state’s county […]