Governor Baker is refusing to sign a law that would provide free calls in prisons and jails, holding it hostage to try to force passage of a “dangerousness” bill that would expand pre-trial incarceration. This is unconscionable. Removing charges from prison phone calls will help keep prisons safer, give children and loved ones of those […]
Media & Public Outreach
Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts Statement on the 2021-2022 Legislative Session Budget
On Monday, July 18th, the Massachusetts legislature voted on the state’s budget, which was passed by both the House and Senate. The budget currently sits before Governor Baker for his final approval. There are multiple items in this year’s budget that will improve the lives of incarcerated people and their families in Massachusetts. PLS is […]
Ray Champagne
It is with great sadness that we share that PLS Board Member Ray Champagne passed away yesterday. Ray spent 45 years in prison after a wrongful conviction. He was a PLS client and then became a client-board member before his exoneration in 2020 after which he continued to serve on the Board. Ray served on […]
Report details women’s accounts of sexual misconduct by staff in Massachusetts prisons and jails
WBURBy Deborah BeckerJuly 11, 2022 A report obtained by WBUR attempts to document what’s often a hidden problem: sexual misconduct against women incarcerated in Massachusetts. The research, from Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, is based on interviews with 22 women, either currently or formerly incarcerated in prisons and jails across the state. Of the women interviewed, the […]
Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts Statement on its newly released Women’s Project Report and the Ripples Report
The Women’s Incarceration Conditions and Reentry Project (The Women’s Project) of Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts (PLS) interviewed and anonymously surveyed over two dozen women incarcerated throughout Massachusetts and has published A Different Way Forward: Stories from Incarcerated Women in Massachusetts and Recommendations. This report details the stories and experiences incarcerated women in the Commonwealth shared […]
New Report Proposes a Different Way Forward for Incarcerated Women in Massachusetts
For immediate release BOSTON – July 11, 2022 – Today, Prisoners’ Legal Services’ (PLS) Women’s Incarceration Conditions and Reentry Project (the Women’s Project) released a new report detailing the traumatic experiences of incarcerated women in Massachusetts and the urgent need to remedy the harm that women face in the carceral system. The report, A Different Way […]
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 […]
Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts awarded Cummings Foundation grant
Boston nonprofit receives funding from Cummings Foundation in Support of Women’s Incarceration & Reentry Project BOSTON – June 1, 2022 – Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts (PLS) is one of 140 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 to $500,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s $25 Million Grant Program. The Boston-based organization was chosen from a […]
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 […]