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 […]

WGBH Greater Boston: Sustaining An Emotional Life Line For Those Behind Bars

WGBH GREATER BOSTON: SUSTAINING AN EMOTIONAL LIFE LINE FOR THOSE BEHIND BARS While conversations about criminal justice reform have gained more traction recently, they generally have focused on issues of reducing the number of people sent to prison or jail. But advocates stress the need to also address conditions for those who are currently incarcerated, […]

Lawsuit targets high cost of phone calls from jail

South Coast Today May 5, 2018 By Jennette Barnes  In the days before her fiance’s suicide in jail, Fall River mental health clinician Kellie Pearson argued with him over the cost of his phone calls home. “For Michael, I think that just put more pressure on him and made him feel worse,” she said. Michael T. […]

Lawsuit challenges the high cost of calling from jail

The Boston Globe May 4, 2018 By Maria Cramer For the 95-year-old mother of one inmate, the high costs of taking phone calls from the Bristol County House of Correction forced her to choose between paying medical bills and talking to her son. Pearson is among four plaintiffs, two of them inmates, who have sued […]