Home > Snellville.Talk > Archives > 2007 > May > 16 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USMom, the inmate is calling again…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My apologies to Chris.
I don’t know Chris - at least I don’t think I do. But according to an MCI phone recording, he is an inmate at an out-of-state correctional facility.
Chris has been calling my home phone “collect” for more than a week — several times on some days. We never accept the call; we always hang up.
We would have told Chris he had the wrong number. But to do that, we would be billed a $3-plus minimum charge in addition to per-minute charges plus various and sundry fees.
I found that out the hard way months ago when another inmate by another name that escapes my memory somehow found our number and began calling. I tried to ignore those calls, but when I finally heard the inmate’s plea, “You could at least pick up,” my heart got the better of me, and I accepted it to tell him he had the wrong number. He thanked me and hung up.
I called MCI after that first encounter to see if they could waive that fee (a request they emphatically and enthusiastically denied). I also suggested that MCI’s recording could give people a “wrong number” option, for instance: “Press 1 to accept charges, press 2 if this is a wrong number; hang up if you do not wish to accept charges.”
The customer service reps saw no merit in the idea.
So when Chris started calling, we just hung up, hoping he would figure it out.
Tuesday night, however, after receiving one call after another, I called MCI and had them block my phone number from correctional institution calls.
This decision did give me pause. Although correctional institution rosters are currently free of my relatives’ names, you never know when a colorful family member might stray from the straight and narrow. Were that to happen, would I want my number blocked? Yeah, probably so.
Plus, the vision of my phone number etched on a prison wall was disturbing.
Paul Czachowski, public affairs officer for the Georgia Department of Corrections, said Georgia’s 39 correctional facilities are among those that contract with MCI for phone service. The population of those facilities is closing in at 60,000, so “that’s a whole lot of calling going on.” he said.
Anyone receiving repeated calls from an inmate in a Georgia facility can call the Georgia Block Manager for MCI at (toll-free) 1-877-269-9175 to block their phone from calls from state correctional institutions.
If it’s just a wrong number, though, you hate to do that.
A representative of my own phone company mentioned that inmates often know they have the wrong number but call it anyway. I asked Czachowski about that.
There may be rare cases in which an inmate does that, hoping you will forward his call to a number not on his approved call list, Czachowski said. “But most of the time, they have just copied the number down wrong.
Too bad we can’t tell them that.
Have you received misdirected inmate calls? Should an inmate be notified that he’s dialing the wrong number?
Permalink | Comments (77) | Post your comment | Categories: Susan Gast
Comments
By carter
May 17, 2007 12:30 AM | Link to this
I’ve never heard of that,but, like you I would continue not to accept the charges.
By Carol
May 17, 2007 7:09 AM | Link to this
We were getting ready for church one Sunday when we received a call like this. I actually accepted the call and it turned out to be an former classmate of my daughter’s who was afraid to call her mother to tell her she was in the slammer. I’ve had the same phone number for over 20 years - and 5 moves - never had a call like that before - and haven’t since; but I’m glad I answered that one.
By Carol
May 17, 2007 7:10 AM | Link to this
We were getting ready for church one Sunday when we received a call like this. I actually accepted the call and it turned out to be an former classmate of my daughter’s who was afraid to call her mother to tell her she was in the slammer. I’ve had the same phone number for over 20 years - and 5 moves - never had a call like that before - and haven’t since; but I’m glad I answered that one.
By Mr. Smith
May 17, 2007 7:41 AM | Link to this
This is a huge ripoff. Inmates have no choice but to use that service to call out to talk to family or their lawyer. Long distance service doesn’t cost near that amount for anyone else. Its not only long distance, the rate is that high for local calls from the jail as well.
By Katie
May 17, 2007 7:42 AM | Link to this
Wouldn’t caller ID catch this?
By meme
May 17, 2007 8:41 AM | Link to this
Caller ID did actually catch the one call that I had received. However, it only says that it is the institute and not who is calling. When I picked it up, it was not anyone I knew so I hung up.
By lovelyliz
May 17, 2007 9:58 AM | Link to this
During various stages of his adult life including his most current one, my brother has lived with my parents. Unfortunately, his girlfriends are less stable than even he is which I didn’t think possible. The running joke when my Mother mentions his newest girlfriend is whether or not she has a parole officer.
One particular woman he had been trying to get rid of my merely avoiding her ended up back in jail. I guess her family doesn’t answer her calls or perhaps they have no bail $$$$ so she calls collect to my parents’ house. My mother made the mistake of accepting the call once. She told the ex that my brother wasn’t accepting her calls. Did that stop her from trying? Absolutely not!!! Within a week my parents moved into the 21st century and go caller ID.
By GeezGuys
May 17, 2007 10:06 AM | Link to this
I’ve had at least two inmates call my home phone repeatedly, I just never picked up. They eventually stopped. BTW, I did that because I used to deal with a lot of inmates and their calls in a former job.
I hate to be critical of Mr. Czachowski, but my perception of those calls doesn’t really square with his. A lot of those guys are hanging around with nothing better to do so they just make calls. Unfortunately, they’re just looking for any angle they can work, whether it be transferring their call, (which may not be possible, according to the announcements I heard) looking up a number for them, blah, blah, blah. If you’ve ever been aggressively panhandled, you’ll recognize the approach at work. They prey on your basic feelings of decency to manipulate you.
My advice: Don’t answer, don’t talk to them. Don’t feel bad about blocking their privileges if they keep calling. It may be that rare honest mistake, but the chances of that are slim. And if so, they’re the ones responsible for having the right number or realizing after multiple calls, that something’s not right. Not accepting that responsibility for that is the reason many are in jail in the first place.
By Lynn
May 17, 2007 10:13 AM | Link to this
I get them about twice a year. It’s obvious they are avoiding their family the expense of the call by asking me to 3 way it for them. I won’t do it & I don’t feel sorry for them. I didn’t put them in that predictament & I won’t carry the expense for them to call their girlfriend for phone sex.
By Rosa
May 17, 2007 10:39 AM | Link to this
This is just another way the Corrections Dept of Ga can take advantage of inmates families many of whom the man was the bread winner and the wife is having to pay a steep price to talk to her husband while trying to support the children. The inmate is not paying for these call the families are. Don’t these children deserve to talk to their mother or father once in a while. DOn’t kid your self, they are making money off inmate families and then working the inmate daily for no pay. Recently they even cut back on the food for grown men saying they were getting too fat. Well some are over 6 ft and weight 170 lbs., Too fat???????
By Dusty
May 17, 2007 11:02 AM | Link to this
We get calls once in a while. But either don’t answer or just hang up when the recording starts.
Life is about choices and consequences. If you can’t afford the consequences, make better choices that keep you out of jail so your family doesn’t have to fork over tons of money to talk to you.
By Yvette
May 17, 2007 11:14 AM | Link to this
I think there should be a way to inform the inmate they are dialing the wrong number. I like the option to either press # 1 if you will like to accept or # 2 if the person that is calling has the wrong number. You would not want to take the priviledges of communication away. I would not. Especially, if they have kids. What has worked for me, if you have caller ID is to answer your phone saying “WRONG NUMBER” because they can hear you say Hello.
By Clyde Barrow
May 17, 2007 11:15 AM | Link to this
When I read the headline, I thought this was going to be another one of those “dating/relationships” blogs that are so popular at ajc.com.
By dawg_gone_truth
May 17, 2007 11:18 AM | Link to this
What about AT&T ripping off our soldiers, a 600 minute phone card is good for about 15 minutes of talk time and that depends on where you bought it from the ones at Wal-Mart and Target have different connection charges.The phone companies are looking to rip you off at every turn especially when they have you cornered, like at a AT&T phone center in Iraq. The big phone companies do this to prisoners too, not all prisoners are bad people, some may have just made one bad decision after a life of good decisions, does one bad decision or serving our country warrant a person being fleeced by a big company? Just the way Big Oil has us by the short hairs now, I’ll tell you why we deserve it, we let these guys finance our locally elected officials all the way up to our President.
By Qween B
May 17, 2007 11:19 AM | Link to this
I have received a call like this … on my cell phone no less!!! … I was in class one night when my phone rings, when I answered the recording said it was a collect call from an inmate at Cobb County Jail and the caller said his name was “D**S”. Well that is also my 11 y/o son’s name so of course I answered! … It turned out to be my teenage daughter’s, teenage ex-boyfriend who had been arrested a few days before on drug charges and whose mother left him there to teach him a lesson … (as she should have) … I accepted the charges. He was calling because he had not been able to get in touch with my daughter (GOOD!) so he thought he would call my cell phone and she may be there for him to talk to. Needless to say he did not get to talk to her and I’m glad I accepted the call because now I had confirmation that he was a lazy bum who dropped out of high school, smoked weed and also a drug dealer to boot!!! After learning that he was in jail, she asked “so what’s he callin me for” …
I always knew he wasn’t right for her and felt vindicated that she now knew everything I had told her about him was correct … that loser still has no high school diploma, lives in and out of his mother’s house and has a criminal record that gets longer each week.
Best money I ever spent on a phone call!
QB
By El Bubba
May 17, 2007 11:21 AM | Link to this
Please bear in mind the number of people who are in prison and are innocent, then think of the people that are in there for stupid victimless crimes. Then think about this… When you are down the man beats you down harder, as hard as he can in any way imaginable. Prisons and jails go to extraordinary lengths in this regard and making life difficult for family and friends is part of the program. They don’t want you to have family and friends. It’s time for reform, the current system doesn’t work. Alcohol and drug treatment would be a good start. Being ‘tough on crime’ doesn’t solve the problems it set out to address, it just builds more prisons and jails. We currently have a higher percentage of our population incarcerated than any other country. Why? Do we have more bad people than everyone else? And if so, why?
By Jo
May 17, 2007 11:40 AM | Link to this
El Bubba, people are in prison because they willfully did something hurtful & illegal. They do not deserve humane treatment at all. When someone is sent to prison, it needs to be on record that there is only one specific number they can call & when they make those calls, they are to be stood over & monitored to assure they don’t violate the privilege
By LM
May 17, 2007 11:44 AM | Link to this
we get these calls several times a month over the last 7 years. to our knowledge we know of no one who would be making these calls and therefore don’t answer. i do like the idea of having an option to let the inmate know they have the wrong number, maybe it would stop the calls we are getting.
By shell
May 17, 2007 11:55 AM | Link to this
I had a collect call from a detention center recently and didn’t hear the name very clear so I accepted it thinking it may be someone I know. I definitely didn’t know the guy and he said he was trying to reach his sister because had been arrested and his little boy was with him. He proceeded to tell me she worked at the hospital and was the operator there… He asked me to please call her and ask her to come get his son. Well… he told his name, her name, his son’s name and where he was. Then he gave me the number and told me her extension was *74 - and asked me to read the number back. When I read the extension back, he said no, you have to dial that first! Well I hung up knowing that was a scam and went on google and found it… They call it Jailhouse Jingles - if I were to have done that, it would have forwarded my phone number to the other I was trying to call and he would have been able to call that number and the collect calls be charged to my phone bill! I’m glad I didn’t fall for it!
By The Book
May 17, 2007 12:05 PM | Link to this
We’ve never gotten an inmate call. And s/he can call until they’re blue in the face…we won’t answer. Caller ID is the best thing to come down the pike in years. If we don’t recognize the number, we don’t answer. Simple as that. If there’s a dire emergency, whoever it is can leave a message and we’ll pick it up.
Oh, and not hanging out with losers helps with the 3am bail money calls. No loser = no bail money requests.
By Scorpia
May 17, 2007 12:08 PM | Link to this
This has happened to me before- and I found out that inmates will often call random numbers, and if they hear a female voice, they will keep calling until their call is accepted.
When it happened to me, I too- accepted the call to tell the caller he had the wrong number, at which time he proceeded to hit on me! So I learned the hard way….
By Nikita
May 17, 2007 12:10 PM | Link to this
I’ve gotten a handful of calls from jail over the years. Several from people I actually did know, and one from someone I didn’t know.
The person who called me who I didn’t know was local. There was no collect call accepting and he asked me to please make a call on his behalf because he had accidentally misdialed by one digit, but that had used up his allocated free call. I made the call, and the person at the opposite end took down the information (“so and so is in the local jail — can you please make bail?”) and thanked me. I’ve never had any kind of trouble from it.
By E B
May 17, 2007 12:16 PM | Link to this
Money is the root of this problem and companies like MCI are pimping the families and friends of the incarcerated. These families are not in prison, but are punished by the unearthly high rates for having a phone conversation with the incarcerated. There is no rhyme or reason for these high rates(over 20x more than usual). In alot of cases they make you prepay for these services. It’s wrong and something needs to be done.
By Connie/GA
May 17, 2007 12:27 PM | Link to this
Our old land line number was one digit away from being the same as the local bondsman. I can’t tell you how many calls we got in the middle of the night for folks wanting to be bailed out. One afternoon we received a call from a very irrate woman who was being held at thr local jail. Apparently she had talked to the bondsman earlier in the day but he was late had not posted her bail She ranted for five minutes before taking a breath at which time I told her……”I’ll be there in 5 minutes!” (I bet she spent another night in the jail!) Moral of this story….always be nice to the person you are talking to!
By Willie
May 17, 2007 12:29 PM | Link to this
When I get a call from prison, I call and try to get my number blocked.
By Aquagirl
May 17, 2007 12:31 PM | Link to this
EB, did you miss Dusty’s and Jo’s posts? Stay out of jail and you won’t have to worry about you or your family being pimped in any sense. Life is full of choices. Make bad ones and nobody has sympathy for your phone rates. Jail should suck. Your family should limit contact with you.
From reading this blog, the real root of this problem is too many inmates are trying to scam people from jail. Or they’re calling ex-girlfriend’s mothers because they’ve alienated their immediate family or any friends they ever had. How about a little investigative reporting on that, Susan? Sounds like there are plenty of stories.
By John
May 17, 2007 12:31 PM | Link to this
I recently heard about a scam being run by prison inmates. I don’t remember the details of it, but it’s sick to think about these sacks of crap being able to victimize people from jail. If one of these sickos called my wife to get their jollys I’d be tempted to find out what prison their in and send their fellow inmates some gifts to deal with the problem.
By Correct corrections
May 17, 2007 12:42 PM | Link to this
MCI collect is a big ripoff. The employees are rude when you have a problem. If you have not set up an account they will not even help you with the problem. They give you a 15 minute phone call for $7.
El Bubba - You are correct. The system does need to change. What a lot of people do not realize is that our prisons are overloaded with people that have drug problems. In a lot of these cases the person incarcerated only did damage to themselves and did not actually hurt another citizen. They put them into jail with other criminals that show them worse behavior. They do not give them help with the drug abuse. Then they leave jail with fines higher than an average person pays on a 30 year mortgage. So how do you think they are going to earn the money to try and pay off the fines??? It is a never ending problem unless the system itself changes.
By LJ
May 17, 2007 12:44 PM | Link to this
I have received three or four of these calls over the 20 plus years I’ve had my current number. The first time I just said “no” to accepting the charges. I had no family member in prison nor did I recognize the name given. Later I mentioned this to a good friend who told me that I should never even answer, just hang up. Apparently there is a scam where the inmate does have the number written down and later uses it as reference, etc. with which to conduct not-so-legal scams.
The best advice? Err on the side of caution and just hang up. Don’t even say “no”.
By E B
May 17, 2007 12:53 PM | Link to this
Money is the root of this problem and companies like MCI are pimping the families and friends of the incarcerated. These families are not in prison, but are punished by the unearthly high rates for having a phone conversation with the incarcerated. There is no rhyme or reason for these high rates(over 20x more than usual). In alot of cases they make you prepay for these services. It’s wrong and something needs to be done.
By too nice
May 17, 2007 12:55 PM | Link to this
We had a similar situation. My husband and I was out to dinner and someone kept calling our house from jail. My daughter was at the house and she called me on my cell and told us that someone keeps calling from the jail. Well, we were little concerned (maybe family or friend in distress) so I told my daughter next time to take the call just in case something was wrong. Well, it was a young guy crying about how he is trying to reach is mom and was in jail by mistake and blah, blah….wanted my daughter to call his mom and let her know where he was. So my daughter being nice called for him BUT when she did it forward my number to the number he had her call. All weekend long our phone would ring but we could not answer because of the forwarding which was done. Called the phone co and they got corrected but when bill came in $100 approx. they would not erase charges and put me to MCI which they refused to help. SO when got stuck paying this bill or disc of our phone. We got a block now so can’t happen again. Just hope no one really ever needs us from there:( FYI……..
By Nikita
May 17, 2007 1:10 PM | Link to this
I do a lot of work with poor families. And it’s amazing what stupid charges some of them get arrested for. So I don’t buy the “don’t be a scumbag and you won’t have this problem” business. People are arrested when they are charged, not convicted. A lot will be released without having their charges stand, and a lot are in jail on comparatively stupid charges like “providing false information” or “loitering.” We’re not necessarily talking about hardened criminals trying to scam you.
Anyway, that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that it would be better if the collect call system allowed you decline a call for a reason — that way you could decline the person on the other end and save you both time and aggravation.
By Noelle
May 17, 2007 1:12 PM | Link to this
I’d refuse the call, and then call the correctional facility’s main number to report the call and the inmate’s name. It should be fairly easy to find a phone number for just about any prison in the US online. If it’s a wrong number, the prison can tell them; if it’s not, they can suspend calling privileges.
By El Bubba
May 17, 2007 1:13 PM | Link to this
The ‘scamming’ seems to be going both ways. Some prissoners are scamming innocent people and MCI is scamming the prisoners, their families, and random people.
If you look at these stupid phone issues you should think of it as one piece in a giant jigsaw puzzle.
60,000 people are in jail in Georgia. Problem(s) solved?
By Jo
May 17, 2007 1:30 PM | Link to this
Prisoners deserve to be scammed and worse. Drug addicts ARE scum & deserve to be punished. Do you bleeding-heart liberals not realize that someone with a habit will do anything to get a fix, even kill their own grandmother, Gee, pick up a newspaper once in a while. There’s a reason why crime is a zillion times more rampant & violent now than it was decades ago
By Aquagirl
May 17, 2007 1:34 PM | Link to this
“providing false information” isn’t a stupid charge, it means you won’t give your real name to the cops. That’s exactly the kind of person who’s a scammer. And as far as going to jail for something stupid, maybe trying to move along when cops tell you to do so would keep you out of jail. Don’t stand there and argue with them. Bad decisions,illegal or not, land you in jail.
There is no valid reason for an experience like Susan’s. Normal people figure out after calling several times a day for a week that they’re not getting an answer.
If you can’t manage to stay out of jail, or have a memorized phone number of someone who you can call, then I have no sympathy for you. You’re either calling the number of anyone you’ve ever known, just calling randomly, or trying to scam someone. All three of those things are completely the problem of the incarcerated caller.
As for the high costs of calling your family, or the unbelievable number of people we’re throwing behind bars…that’s another subject. It has nothing to do with inmates trying to manipulate strangers by phone.
By Nikita
May 17, 2007 1:41 PM | Link to this
When the charge of providing false information isn’t accompanied by another charge it’s pretty damned stupid. What it means is refusing to identify yourself accurately when asked to. But the lack of a second charge indicates how useless the first is.
Anyway, the ability to decline a call with a reason would eliminate most of the inconvenience.
By me again
May 17, 2007 1:52 PM | Link to this
Shell,
EXACT same thing happened to me. Except, this guy was trying to get in touch with his mother who worked at Grady first. Who dials an extension FIRST? I did have a good hearty laugh though, I don’t care if it bothered him or not. Then, I hung up and called the phone company.
That laugh was worth what I paid for it. LOL!!!
p.s. Yes, MCI is a BIG rip off in the prison system!
By Aquagirl
May 17, 2007 1:57 PM | Link to this
Why in the world would anyone refuse to accurately identify themselves to a cop when asked? D’ya think they might have an outstanding charge or two? Maybe?
The charge itself shows how useless the arrested person is. Whether they were doing anything else wrong or not, they should be arrested and thrown in jail. That’s stupid and illegal behavior.
Nikita, if you think poor people are animals and can’t conduct themselves as sensible human beings, you have a low opinion of them. Millions of Americans go about their lives every day without encountering the police or being arrested. It’s quite possible. Really. Unless your name is Kathryn Johnson. But like I said, that’s another subject, which has nothing to do with inmate phone calls.
By not answering, Susan was indeed declining the calls. The problem was the inmate was going to call until he got an answer. No telling why, but none of the reasons are valid.
By dawg_gone_truth
May 17, 2007 2:21 PM | Link to this
People who get arrested are not always guilty. This guy who did two years for rape he did not commit, or better yet how about this kid in Douglas county who had consentual oral sex with a girl and is doing ten years when if it was just regular intercourse he would be at Howard getting earning his degree? Getting arrested does not mean that someone is a bad person.
The story is about how MCI rips you off, it is sad really that the state lets this company do this to anyone. As far as the scams you should be able to press charges and make the stay longer for those particular inmates.
By me again
May 17, 2007 2:22 PM | Link to this
Some of you people (like aquagirl) and your value judgments on other people are ridiculous.
But I guess scum recognizes scum.
By mes
May 17, 2007 2:23 PM | Link to this
Chris has been calling a lot of people in the last 2 weeks. many people in the toco hills area have been getting these calls lately. so don’t fear that your phone number is on the wall. i think that they just want to talk to someone.
By Aquagirl
May 17, 2007 2:41 PM | Link to this
You want to set up the prison system to accommodate those who are not guilty? Okay. Get rid of the walls and cells too, while you’re at it. Prisons and jails have to be run on the premise that you belong there. Duh.
Being arrested doesn’t mean you’re bad. It does often mean that you’re stupid or make poor life choices. those things often result in your day not being very fun in jail or out. You’ll end up in crappy situations. Like being in a place where you can’t pick what phone service to use.
It’s a good thing MCI charges that $3. It made Susan think seriously about picking up that phone. It’s a good way to discourage people from being sucked in by scammers. If the innocent prisoners suffer, they need to take that up with the scammer in the cell with them, not the State or MCI. Limiting phone calls for a group of people who have shown they can’t be trusted is good.
Me again, you should ask Susan to pass your nonjudgemental phone number to Chris. Enjoy the nonjudgemental conversation.
By The Hangin' Judge
May 17, 2007 2:47 PM | Link to this
Any punk (or punkette) who refuses to cooperate with the police deserves to rot in jail. So do the idiots who are stupid enough to get mixed up with drugs.
BTW, if you’re the kind of person who feels sorry for the drug addicts, why don’t you agree to let them stay at YOUR house?
By Michelle
May 17, 2007 2:49 PM | Link to this
I had a job back in Cincinnati working for a long distance company that sold services to people with a friend or relative in jail, the person inside the cell would call a particular number & special area code and it would ring into the friend with the service’s house just like any other call, no collect call. The service was like, .16 per minute, but MCI charged an upfront fee and I think the local company might charge something, but overall, much cheaper than the current system.
By Diana
May 17, 2007 2:55 PM | Link to this
I received a call from someone I did know and tried to answer it, however I was told that in order to accept the call, I would have to first buy a $50 block of time… and only after it was purchased could the caller then call back. No option available to receive just one call… $50 for one phone call is extortion any way you cut it. (And to count some people as less than human is ridiculous - if you don’t want to have anything to do with them, then don’t… but don’t begrudge the ones who aren’t so fickle with their friendships)
By ehail
May 17, 2007 3:01 PM | Link to this
What a boring and brainless question!
Eve H.
By Poo
May 17, 2007 3:28 PM | Link to this
They are in prison for being corrupt; why on earth are they given the privilege to just call numbers collect? I had one several weeks ago and as the automated voice ask if we would accept a collect call from the institution; someone in the background yelled, “hey this is Reggie, I need someone to get me out.” It was almost comical. But, I wish they were not allowed to just call randomly.
By Jo
May 17, 2007 3:42 PM | Link to this
So, Aquagirl, who sounds like an intelligent woman with good sense & morals is “scum”? By what type of twisted criteria?
By Bubba
May 17, 2007 4:10 PM | Link to this
I’d sure like to have one of the FOXY FELONS call me.
By Nikita
May 17, 2007 4:36 PM | Link to this
Aquagirl is a judgmental, assumptive person who likes to construct straw men. Her intelligence is beside the point.
Why in the world would anyone refuse to accurately identify themselves to a cop when asked? D’ya think they might have an outstanding charge or two? Maybe?
No, actually. He doesn’t. He should have provided the information. He didn’t because he felt he was being harassed. And the lack of a real charge to couple with the add-on is a pretty good indicator that the original encounter didn’t involve anything of a criminal nature. My point is that those in jail may be in jail briefly. They may be innocent or they may have done something of a trivial nature. And they may be making a call in good faith. Particularly if they are trying to reach someone and that person is not answering, and they have no idea why the person at the other end is declining.
The charge itself shows how useless the arrested person is.
There’s the judgment. Keep in mind you can also be arrested for jaywalking.
Nikita, if you think poor people are animals and can’t conduct themselves as sensible human beings, you have a low opinion of them.
Aquagirl, if you can’t interpret what I said without constructing straw men, then you have issues I need not address.
Unless your name is Kathryn Johnson.
You admit that Kathryn Johnson had an issue, and yet you don’t recognize that anyone else has negative encounters with the justice system without fully deserving to spend weeks in jail? I don’t get it.
But like I said, that’s another subject, which has nothing to do with inmate phone calls.
Well, neither does your judgment of inmate worthiness.
The problem was the inmate was going to call until he got an answer. No telling why, but none of the reasons are valid.
It’s not valid to continue calling until you get an answer, particularly when you can’t leave a message? There’s the judgment again.
Again, the columnist made a good suggestion. Simply ignoring the call would be another. But that doesn’t mean that a repetitive call from the jail is an indicator that someone is trying to defraud you.
By Aquagirl
May 17, 2007 5:00 PM | Link to this
Oh, your poor person felt they were being harrassed and didn’t need to identify themselves? If you don’t like the way the cop treats you you’re not subject to arrest or don’t have to comply with any of his orders?
Nikita, you dummy, that’s a bad choice. Stupid. If you identify with the stupid, you take their phone calls. I’ve had encounters with stuck-up cops, but never felt the need to lie or withold my identity. Your poor widdle schnookums did. They were arrested for a crime they committed. End of story.
Stop making excuses for others. I bet the cop has a different story, you just choose to believe the liar.
And no, it isn’t valid to keep calling a number where no one answers you after repeated attempts. If Chris is confused, tough.
You read back over all these stories and tell me which is more likely:
A) Chris is the long-lost love child of Susan. He’s recently found her from an intensive search, and was thrown in jail for innocently shouting “yahoo!” in the library by a racist thug cop who doesn’t like literate people.
B) Or he is repeatedly misdialing his adoptive mother’s number by one digit. Over and over and over. And has a disability that prevents him from giving a crap about harrassing people if he’s wrong.
C) Chris really doesn’t know Susan, but somehow got her number as she’s a friend of a friend, and he is such a jerk that no one else will take his calls.
D) Chris has no idea who she is, and has all day to call people to see if he can get them to do anything to benefit them.
Take your pick, longhair defense attorney.
By Tina
May 17, 2007 5:27 PM | Link to this
I haven’t gotten a call from an inmate, but I received a very long, drawn out letter from a male inmate in another state who had gotten my name and address from a contest entry form. Some companies use prison labor to process the forms. In this case, the inmate snuck my form out of “work” and against prison policy, contacted me. I contacted the warden of the facility by phone and said that I’d received a very disturbing letter (it was), and she said I would never again hear from him. Thankfully, I never did.
By John
May 17, 2007 5:39 PM | Link to this
It happened here also,didn’t know the guy,Bellsouth put a collect call block on,still got the calls,they give me a toll free number for company that handles inmate calls and they stopped it.
By Meg
May 17, 2007 5:51 PM | Link to this
If you’ve been scammed by someone in jail I wouldn’t worry about it. Going through life not ever getting scammed is not the point. 32All nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them [the people] from one another as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats;
33And He will cause the sheep to stand at His right hand, but the goats at His left. 34Then the King will say to those at His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father [you [g]favored of God and appointed to eternal salvation], inherit (receive as your own) the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you [h]brought Me together with yourselves and welcomed and entertained and [i]lodged Me, 36I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me [j]with help and ministering care, I was in prison and you came to see Me. 37Then the just and upright will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry and gave You food, or thirsty and gave You something to drink? 38And when did we see You a stranger and welcomed and entertained You, or naked and clothed You? 39And when did we see You sick or in prison and came to visit You? 40And the King will reply to them, Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least in the estimation of men] of these My brethren, you did it for Me. 41Then He will say to those at His left hand, Begone from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! 42For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me and entertain Me, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me [l]with help and ministering care. 44Then they also [in their turn] will answer, Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You? 45And He will reply to them, Solemnly I declare to you, in so far as you failed to do it for the least [[m]in the estimation of men] of these, you failed to do it for Me. 46Then they will go away into eternal punishment, but those who are just and upright and in right standing with God into eternal life.By Aquagirl
May 17, 2007 6:09 PM | Link to this
So not accepting a scam phone call at $3 a minute is going to condemn me to hell? Wow. Bummer.
If you’re concerned about those in jail, there are plenty of ways to show compassion beyond accepting random phone calls which enable those trying to sin by robbing you. Aren’t you encouraging them to take the wrong path?
Try mixing your compassion with a smidgen of brains.
By manda
May 17, 2007 7:00 PM | Link to this
That is a rip off. In Missouri the inmates use a prepaid system when they have to buy minutes or you can buy minutes and put on your phone and they can call. That way if someone crazy does call you have 5 seconds to tell them that it is the wrong number.
By Jack P
May 17, 2007 7:20 PM | Link to this
Susan, honey, you are an idiot for showing sympathy for a convict you know nothing about. Wake up, lady. If word gets around to the convict population that you may be an easy mark, you could receive a visit from a parolee. “My apologies to Chris.” What’s that all about?
By Pen
May 17, 2007 9:00 PM | Link to this
I totally agree that changes are necessary, both in this area and in the method in which inmates are permitted to call home. A dear widow friend of mine’s only child is an inmate in a Georgia prison. She is disabled and has little income. She has had her phone turned off several times unable to pay for the collect calls from her son. I’ve wanted to draw attention to this situation for years now. She could easily get a toll-free number for him to call and pay a very low price per minute in comparison.
It seems not only the inmate is being punished, but the family as well.
By El Bubba
May 17, 2007 10:28 PM | Link to this
There’s no compassion in this country anymore. Everyone thinks of themselves first and foremost, with no attention to the greater good, their fellow man. Most of the naysayers here are one small step from finding themselves incarcerated, of course if you have the money it isn’t a problem. It’s all about money, and MCI want’s their $3 worth. 60,000 Georgians in jail at a minimum of 3$ per call…
By Kristie Carter
May 17, 2007 10:48 PM | Link to this
Wow- I knew that ignorance of prison issues and prisoners ran rampant in Atlanta, but I never knew it ran to such extremes. For those who don’t REALLY know how MCI works, prisoners must have a phone number entered into an approved list, and that list is controlled by a staffer at each facility. They (the inmates) cannot randomly call and look for a girl, or run a scam, or try for a three way. Perhaps those outside of GA can, but not in this state.
MCI charges outrageous fees for collect calls that would cost a fraction of the price if it didn’t come from a correctional facility which basically taxes prison families (I know because I am one…) and Georgia’s DOC collects 65% of every call that I pay for while they still hold my loved one inside, charging him for every dental visit,every doctors visit, and every money order that I send him. MCI & the DOC take every chance they get to tax the families. The DOC will put our loved ones hours away, without regard to what they claim is “needed family support” and implement few programs in our facilities unless they come with federal funding. So, if you’re concerned about inmates having something positive to do, contact your legislator and demand prison reform. Make your tax dollars do something of value. Rehabilitate, restore families, make them pay restitution for their crimes, and stop crime with some intelligence.
Did my loved one make a poor choice that landed him in prison? Absolutely. But did MCI and the DOC get an unlimited amount of power over him and subsequently me, our children, our families, AND our finances? It appears so… but in the meantime, maybe those of you posting about these phone calls might want to do your homework first. Walk a mile in another man/ woman’s shoe, and then be opinionated.
By Nikita
May 17, 2007 11:25 PM | Link to this
Aquagirl, name-calling is the last defense of the pathetic. So I am done addressing you unless you’d like to actually debate. Evidently you do not.
And again, with the assumptions. They’re pretty much all incorrect.
By mgm
May 17, 2007 11:28 PM | Link to this
there is a “do not call list” for everything else…why not the jail. they are already getting room/board/ and not to mention an education….i think the jail should be notified and just have you added to the do not call list. i think that these prisoners are getting off light compared to the homeless that are trying to pull themselves up and offf the streets. i would rather buy a homeless person a $10 phone card and hope for the best than bother with the inmate….and i do realize some of them are in there and do not belong, but a scam is a scam.
By Valton
May 18, 2007 7:14 AM | Link to this
I recently began receiving calls from that MCI prison number . The way I handle it is when see that MCI number I just ignore it.That does not bother me because I did not give out my number in the first place
By Aquagirl
May 18, 2007 7:33 AM | Link to this
You’re correct Nikita, since you started name calling in the first line of your post, I should have simply ignored it. Especially since you throw terms around like “straw man” without knowing what they mean. A sure sign of a weak position, or a snot who likes to pretend they’re captain of the 7th grade debate team.
Try learning the term “red herring”. That’s when you introduce an irrelevent point into an argument, such as “well, there are innocent people in jail, so we should construct policies around them, instead of the guilty inmates”.
Or “assumption” which certainly applies to your judgement that because no other charges were filed, the original one is weak. There’s a big fat assumption for you. Don’t mind making those assumptions yourself, do you?
Not that you even addressed that point well, since your arrested poor person did indeed commit a crime.
There’s not been a logical argument here. It’s been boo-hooing (See:Kristy) or other sillyness, like discussions of the unfairness of the legal system, or a focus on those jailed for jaywalking.
A last note for you inmate-huggers: apparently MCI and the prison system claim that the huge charges go to offset the costs of maintaining such comforts as phone calls. Inmates are already housed, fed, guarded, etc. at taxpayer expense. If the family has to carry extra expenses, that is a result of the criminal’s activity, not the big mean MCI. Suck it up.
Ultimately, if an inmate is punished by being unable to contact others, that is a result of their own conduct. Crying and ignoring/minimizing their behavior is more immaturity. Don’t blame the system for a problem that was created by the inmates.
By Barry
May 18, 2007 8:24 AM | Link to this
The current system charges confiscatory rates to families of inmates, and provides enormous kickbacks to the prison system. All of that would be bad enough on its own, but here’s the real problem: We know that inmates who maintain a connection with family during their incarceration are less likely to commit new crimes after their release. Yet here we have set up a system that makes it more difficult for them to maintain that connection.
The result contributes to a higher recidivism rate, which is far more expensive than the revenue the prison system and MCI reap from the families of the inmate population.
By Aquagirl
May 18, 2007 8:59 AM | Link to this
Thanks for introducing the term “kickback” into this conversation Barry, I wondered how long it would take for someone to start using emotionally charged language disguised as scholarly commentary.
You could argue that education is a far better way to reduce recidivism. It’s proven to be pretty effective, and results in inmates having better chances to be contributing members of society, instead of the lame objective of not going back to prison. As an added bonus, it doesn’t offer the chance of easy scamming and harrassment. How about we put the money into that instead? Prisoners would be better off studying than yakking on the phone. We’d be better off too.
(http://www.prisonactivist.org/pipermail/prisonact-list/2001-November/004371.html)
By Another AJC Idiot Lib
May 18, 2007 9:03 AM | Link to this
Oh Susan! How could you possibly do something so racist as to block the number from that prison??? Don’t you know that most people are locked up for crimes they didn’t commit?
Okay..Here’s what you do the next time they call.
Accept the call.
Ask the prisoner if there is anything that he needs sent to him.
Ask him if he’d like for you to pass along any messages to his worried family back home.
Give him your credit card number in case he needs something and is unable to get in touch with you.
Get his address and Start sending care packages regularly!
By Another AJC Idiot Lib
May 18, 2007 9:04 AM | Link to this
Oh Susan! How could you possibly do something so racist as to block the number from that prison??? Don’t you know that most people are locked up for crimes they didn’t commit?
Okay..Here’s what you do the next time they call.
Accept the call.
Ask the prisoner if there is anything that he needs sent to him.
Ask him if he’d like for you to pass along any messages to his worried family back home.
Give him your credit card number in case he needs something and is unable to get in touch with you.
Get his address and Start sending care packages regularly!
By Nikita
May 18, 2007 9:07 AM | Link to this
since you started name calling in the first line of your post
Incorrect. I identified your behavior, which is in fact as I described it. And the name-calling started when you reacted rudely to my original, factual, post.
you throw terms around like “straw man” without knowing what they mean.
Also incorrect. You constructed a false argument which is loosely based off that of others and then argued it.
a snot who likes to pretend they’re captain of the 7th grade debate team.
There you go taking the high road again. I suppose sticking to my argument is snotty — and that’s fine with me. I am entirely too well raised to engage in a description of you. As the saying goes, don’t wrestle with pigs. You get dirty and the pig enjoys it.
…you introduce an irrelevent point into an argument, such as “well, there are innocent people in jail, so we should construct policies around them, instead of the guilty inmates”.
Nope. that’s not my argument. As I have made clear.
Or “assumption” which certainly applies to your judgement that because no other charges were filed, the original one is weak.
As I also made clear, I know what happened to the individual in question. And I know far more about it than you do. There is no additional charge, and that is why none have been filed.
Not that you even addressed that point well, since your arrested poor person did indeed commit a crime.
It’s only marginally related to my point. Jaywalking by a theoretical person would also be marginal to my point. And my comments on crime and incarceration were brought in because of people such as yourself who essentially said “these people aren’t human — screw ‘em.” Did you expect that no one would respond to you? Sorry for making you angry by having the ovaries to do so.
you inmate-huggers…blah blah blah whining…blah blah blah…crying…blah blah blah …immaturity…blah blah blah …
More of that moral high road, compassion, and reasoned rhetoric.
such comforts as phone calls.
“Comforts” is a misnomer. They are a convenience and comfort to the inmates, but also to us as a society since telephone contact with family members and business associates generally smooths the transition from jail back into society. And in the case of jail, rather than prison, it may take a few calls to get an inmate released.
Ultimately, if an inmate is punished by being unable to contact others, that is a result of their own conduct.
It also punishes us. See above.
By me again
May 18, 2007 9:11 AM | Link to this
Barry, you are on point. I don’t think some of these posters realize that some of these prisoners do eventually get out. It would be stupid to cut them off from conversing with their families for years, then just…let them out.
Also, I think we may have the systems mixed up. It sounds like some folks are getting calls from county jail, and some from actual PRISON systems. If someone gets arrested on a charge and needs to get a call out for bail/bond, that’s different.
By Jo
May 18, 2007 9:47 AM | Link to this
The stupidest post on this blog was by “Meg” who obviously “thinks” it’s ok to scam, lie, rob & cheat. Honey, I bet your tune would change real fast if any of that scum broke out of prison & paid you a visit
By Aquagirl
May 18, 2007 9:55 AM | Link to this
Okay, Nikita, I said:
Not that you even addressed that point well, since your arrested poor person did indeed commit a crime.
You said:
It’s only marginally related to my point. Jaywalking by a theoretical person would also be marginal to my point.
Wow, the fact that people in jail might have committed a crime is certainly marginal to your point. You are operating under the delusion that these people were just randomly grabbed off of the street. They weren’t. They have done something that has caused society a negative gain, whether it’s giving false information (requiring police time) or assault (a direct negative impact on someone else). The fact that they or their families should carry some of those negative consequences is foreign to your thought process.
Do harsh phone rates or restrictions punish the inmate’s family? Yes. That punishment is initiated by the inmate. People who commit crimes or stay out of trouble cause their family and friends pain. You, and others like Kristy are focused on what the system is doing, not on the inmates taking responsibility. You enable them to say “the system/the man/MCI/heartless people like aquagirl are keeping me from talking to my family”. Nope, it’s the inmate who is keeping himself from talking to his family.
Any inmate who admits that fact will have a lower rate of recidivism. But there are always people like you to come along and start helping them feel outraged at their treatment, instead of applying any standards of behavior to themselves.
The fact that someone in jail for identity theft would complain about being ripped off isn’t surprising. It’s only unfair when others make their life difficult. Suddenly, inmates discover a sense of moral outrage when it’s their well-being in question.
You jump in that boat with them, Nikita. You’re so loose-brained you call a number for an anonymous inmate.
By Connie
May 18, 2007 11:05 AM | Link to this
I think it would be the decent and humane thing to do to notify an inmate that he/she has reached a wrong number. Certainly that should not be at the expense of the party who is responsible for the bill. I receive calls from one individual and I have never had anyone else attempt to call me; I would not accept it, but if it were a mere accident, having the option of pressing a number to indicate that it was an incorrect number would be appropriate. Families and/or friends of inmates pay an outrageous rate to receive calls and we know what our options are if someone is playing games. It is also the inmate’s responsibility to be certain that nobody can see the number that he/she is dialing and to keep their PIN numbers private. Unless someone has access to that information, a call should not come through unless it is an accident. I am speaking only with regards to dealing with MCI in Georgia where one must have a specialized account in order to receive a call from a Correctional Institution—they are expensive, but there is no room for error. I know who is calling and I know the cost.
By Bari
May 18, 2007 2:03 PM | Link to this
NIKITA sucks!
By Charles Cole
May 18, 2007 4:25 PM | Link to this
Great Tip! I have linked to you on my website CreepyFriend. Keep up the good work.
By Momoftwo
May 19, 2007 4:46 PM | Link to this
So, are we talking about people that are actually in prison, you know, doing their time after they’ve been convicted? Or are we talking about people that have just been arrested and have the “one phone call” allowed them? If they’ve just been arrested, let them make the call. If they’re in prison, serving time, why do they have the privilege of making phone calls? I thought that was part of doing time, losing rights and privileges. I thought that was part of paying back society for a wrong you committed.