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January 4, 2023

New California Law Allows Incarcerated People to Make Free Phone Calls
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In California, incarcerated people are now able to make and receive free
phone calls. The Keep Families Connected Act went into effect January 1.
The nonprofit Worth Rises estimates that at least one in three
California families went into debt to maintain regular contact with
incarcerated loved ones as prison telecommunication corporations made
millions of dollars in profits. California is only the second state in
the U.S. to enact such a law, after Connecticut. Several major cities,
including New York and Los Angeles, have similar policies in place at a
local level. This comes as new federal legislation could curb the cost
of prison phone calls nationwide following its passage by Congress last
year. The bill is now on President Biden's desk. On average, a 15-minute
prison call costs over $5 - with some prisons charging a dollar or more
per minute.


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