-Frederick Mason, Correctional Facility, AZ
Program Statement 540.100, under Purpose and Scope for Inmate Telephone Regulation states, in part:
“Telephone privileges are a supplemental means of maintaining community and family ties that will contribute to an inmate’s personal development,” and “Maintaining pro-social/legal contact with family and community ties is a valuable tool in the overall correctional process.”
I take this to mean that in some regards, the use of telephone calls is vital to the wellbeing of every inmate here, because it gives us a connection to the outside world. Whether we are calling our parents, our spouses, our church or anyone who cares about us, it is very important to be able to make those connections with the outside world. If we are not able to do so, then it can become detrimental to the overall rehabilitation of every inmate behind the walls.
On June twenty-first, 2020 they put out an unprintable memo stating:
“The inmate phones will remain off until further notice. We do not have an estimated time they will be back on. The inmate revalidation will be set at three-hundred minutes. You will not be charged for your phone calls at this time.”
So, for a period of time, we were unable to make phone calls to our loved ones.
This came off a thirty-plus day lockdown, where staff refused to give us stamps, envelopes or paper to write to our loved ones, thereby cutting off all forms of communication. While some argue that telephone calls are a “privilege,” it is only so if there are other forms of communication; as I mentioned, this was cut off during the lockdown.
Then, on June twenty-second, 2023, they put out another unprintable memo, stating: “The inmate revalidation has been changed to five-hundred and ten minutes. You will not be charged for your phone calls at this time. Each phone call is set for ten minutes, with ninety minutes between phone calls.”
This was a devastating change to our form of communication, because up until recently, the regular phone calls were a fifteen-minute call, and the wait between calls was only thirty minutes. Staff changed this after a lengthy lockdown, changing the waiting time from thirty minutes to an hour.
This created more problems and solved nothing, because now we had to wait longer to make phone calls, and as the natural order of programs simply continued for a few more days. The problem of the phone lines would have solved itself, as people would have had the chance to make their calls, and the lines would have died down.
But then, on June thirtieth, 2023, another unprintable memo stated: “Due to Modified Operations the class of service for the phones will be changing from ten-minute phone calls to five-minute phone calls. The wait time between calls will be sixty minutes for the following holiday weekend (July fourth). This will be revised Wednesday, July fifth, 2023. Thank you in advance.”
I ask, as likely every other inmate here must be asking, “What was the purpose of this?” Clearly this will not enhance the communication between inmates and their loved ones. Everyone who has talked to their loved ones has heard the frustration from the other side of the phone, as mothers, wives, friends and loved ones feel that they are being punished because of this merciless rule.
I don’t see the purpose in why we are being punished with less phone time, actually forcing us to make more phone calls. If I had a regular fifteen-minute call with my loved one, I would not need to call them again.
Instead, with only a five-minute call, I don’t get to say what I need to say, nor do they get to say what they need to say, and thus need another phone call. But to wait another hour stresses out both sides, especially if they live in different time zones. My phone calls go to the East Coast, so at this point in time, there is a three-hour difference. Every hour I have to wait to make a call makes it later to call my loved ones.
One guy here has family in Germany. He tells me that it is virtually impossible to make more than one phone call, because of the time difference. How are you encouraging social contact and communication with the outside if we can’t call our loved ones?
And worse, the memo is incorrect. The current memo states the waiting time is sixty minutes… this is not true. We found out today (Saturday) that the waiting time is still ninety minutes. So, in a poor attempt to encourage communication to the outside, which is supposed to be critical to rehabilitation, we now have a mere five-minute phone call. Then we have to wait an hour and a half to call again.
The results don’t make sense, unless this is purely punitive. Today I made a call to my mother, and when I went to the phones about eight forty-five AM, and there was no one on the phones. In fact, there are virtually no lines anyway, because now people can’t make calls at all.
The only times there are lines are just after a lockdown, ie the four PM count, when we come out at five PM. Only then there is a line, but shortly afterwards, there is no line.
What is supposed to be served in this apparent punitive act, preventing us from contacting our loved ones? Why must our loved ones suffer because of what seems to be a malicious act to persecute us? What did we do? And this compounds with the number of lockdowns we’ve had.
I have counted forty-nine lockdowns this year already, and the last five days (Mon-Fri) we were on lockdown for four different occasions, none of them for inmate behavior. This makes it even harder to stay in communication with loved ones, especially if we continue to be on lockdown, and at the same time, staff refuses to give us stamps to send letters out.
Going to commissary is not guaranteed, since we seem to go on some type of lockdown every other day. And in all this, the irony is that we have our phone time cut during the holidays. How is it that we actually have less time to talk to our loved ones on holidays like July fourth, when families all across the country are gathering?
Will you do the same on Thanksgiving and Christmas, where we are limited to a mere five minutes, and have to wait another ninety minutes before we call again? The memo wasn’t accurate or fair, stating we had to wait an hour, but the ninety-minute wait is still enforced. They were careful in the element that punishes, but careless in the element that rehabilitates.
This is very frustrating for us. I cannot believe that they make short five-minute phone calls to their loved ones over the holidays, so why implement that on us? What is to gain from this, except persecution? To simply make everyone’s life harder than it needs to be?
Phone calls to loved ones are one of the most important things we have to look forward to, and a critical part of our rehabilitation. It shows that we are still valued to somebody, even if the staff don’t seem to care about us. I still believe in my heart that every person has value and can be redeemed, if given the opportunity.
My faith in God will not change because the staff here do not believe in the humanity of the guys here. We need those phone calls to continue to believe that we have a purpose, and that we are loved.
By shrinking our calls to five minutes, and prohibiting us from calling for an hour and a half, compounded by the numerous lockdowns we’ve had, and the fact that this memo negatively affects us over the holidays, does not seem to be conducive to good morale.
We just want to talk to our loved ones. Is that too much to ask?