So . . . could you imagine not having enough money to make bail or pay for a decent attorney, trying to figure out how to pay rent so your family doesn’t get evicted, attempting to keep your job while negotiating the county jail system and needing basic services and getting gouged to purchase them? Please consider supporting the good work of the folks at Madison Urban Ministry, Voices Beyond Bars and the Prison Ministry Program. Life is hard enough for some folks, they shouldn’t be getting taken advantage of by County Government on top of it all.
End Unfair Profiteering in County Jails
Each year the County and private corporations rake in millions of dollars from inmates and their families in the county jails. The county contracts with companies in the jails that overcharge the families of inmates to provide for telephone, vending, and laundry services. For example, every time an inmate calls a family member, a loved one, or their attorney it costs those on the receiving end a $4.25 connecting fee and $0.50/minute. This brings in massive profits to the private telephone contractor, ICSolutions, and generates over $800 thousand in revenue to the county. The County also makes over $200 thousand/year by overcharging inmates for basic hygiene/medical products and laundry services. Jails largely consist of people from the poorest most marginalized neighborhoods of the county, and many of these inmates are incarcerated because they couldn’t afford bail.
An ordinance to end all unfair profiteering in the jails has been introduced to the Dane County Board of Supervisors and is being propelled by the Madison-area Urban Ministry, Voiced Beyond Bars, and the Prison Ministry Program. The proposed ordinance would end county revenue generating from services provided to inmates in the jails. It would seek the lowest cost to inmates with all jail services, reversing the current practice of rewarding contractors who guarantee the highest revenue to the county. The proposed ordinance will help curb an exploitative and growing jail industrial complex in Dane County…
TAKE ACTION!
Email all Dane County Board Supervisors and County Executive Kathleen Falk and Urge them to Support this Ordinance: county_board_recipients@co.dane.wi.us , county_executive@co.dane.wi.us
