I was sitting here talking with my buddy Joshua (Nova) earlier, and he made a good point. Everyone in the entire world talks to one another basically for free (on a per call basis) on cell phones, yet we prisoners (slaves) and our families are forced to pay exuberant prison phone call prices just to stay in touch with our loved ones.
Now, at first glance, you might think, “Sure, those assholes behind bars committed a crime, they should pay for those calls.” But in reality, let me explain what’s really happening. There is no technical reason prisoner phone calls need to be so high, so that means there must be some other explanation, possibly even a sinister explanation.
The most likely cause is greed. Corporations and state governments love taking advantage of the most vulnerable populations, simply because those folks are the most least likely to vote, which means they have no real voice. And, although we prisoners do in fact pay taxes (I pay Michigan sales tax on everything I buy), we prisoners are not afforded the right to vote (which is taxation without representation, by the way, the exact thing the Founding Fathers fought for, but that’s a whole different story). So by the very nature of government, we have no voice. And our families, most of whom are poor or almost-poor, like my mom, have no voice either, which makes us easy targets.
Speaking of my mom and phone calls, she often says: “Jer, do you remember when your calls would cost like fifteen dollars for 15 minutes?”
And I do remember those days, calls during business hours were basically a dollar an hour for us prisoners to call home back then. And though the prices have come way down since those highs, compared to the rest of the world paying almost zero cents per call, our $1.75 for fifteen minutes is still basically phone rape.
I’ve been here for almost three decades, and I can tell you, with absolute certainty, that the prisoners who have family support are much more likely to improve or maintain their disposition while behind bars. And the men who have little to no family contact almost always go off the rails.
Now, back to why we prisoners shouldn’t be ripped off so extremely for phone call prices. Michigan hands out the longest average prison sentences in all the entire United States of America. Many thousands of men are sentenced to multiple decades in prison every year. And again, you might be thinking, well, they did the crime, they can do the time. And I agree. There needs to be consequences for criminal behavior. But when you lock away a man (or woman) for decades, then make it impossible for that man to talk with (or visit with) their family, you’re basically creating a monster.
I know, you’re thinking, Mr. Jerry Allen Metcalf, you’re completely full of shit. But I’m telling you it’s true. I see it every single day. I’ve been here for almost three decades, and I can tell you with absolute certainty, that the prisoners who have family support are always much more likely to improve their disposition while behind bars, or, at the very least, maintain it at the level it was when they entered. But the men who have little to no family contact almost always go off the rails. These are the men who go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of darkness. They turn bitter and angry and predatory. They grow crazy-eyed and extremely aggressive. They hunt for altercations. These are the men who turn into prison rapists, robbers, and extortionists. And if they’re in prison raping and robbing and extorting other hardened killers, robbers, and rapists, what do you think they’re going to do when they get released from prison and go home?
And they will, go home that is, because our system rarely gives someone Natural Life behind bars. The vast majority of men who are locked away in Michigan prisons (and American prisons) will someday return to society; they just do it after spending multiple decades behind bars. So, I ask you (members of society), do you want a monster who’s spent twenty years behind bars with little to no family contact coming to live next door to you and your family? Because it’s more likely to happen than you think.
Don’t Miss The Catch-22 Of Prison Phone Calls
Next time you have a free moment, punch up the Sex Registry and see how many sex offenders live in your neighborhood. Then, after doing that, imagine this: For every sex offender that was forced to register his address, there’s probaly twenty convicted felons and ten ex-cons living in the same area who didn’t have to register. Frightening, right?
Looking at it like that, I’d say we (as a society) probably ought to rethink the way we charge our prisoners and their families so much for phone calls and visits and anything else prison related.
My name is Jerry Metcalf, and I wish to make the world a better place, if you do too, please follow me on social media (Facebook/jerryametcalf.jr).
God/dess bless you. Break the Chains!
