Protesters will rally in Bryant Park tomorrow at noon, then head over to Gov. Pataki's office to protest, once again, New York State's shabby, unethical practice of forcing the families, lawyers and religious counselors of prison inmates to pay outrageously jacked-up prices to receive collect calls from those behind bars. At the same time, family members of hundreds of inmates around the state will mount an organized boycott by refusing to accept phone calls for a day.
Good for them. Those who want an immediate halt to the prison phone ripoff should support the demonstration by contacting Gov. Pataki at (212) 681-4580.
The boycott and demonstrations will put a dent, albeit small, in New York's policy of shamefully squeezing people who have done nothing wrong. Thanks to an exclusive contract that gives monopoly control over prison phones to MCI, the price of talking to New York inmates is 630% higher than the cost of regular collect calls - a higher rate than what it costs to speak with federal prisoners or those locked up in any other state.
