NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio has been busy lately. He was busy calling for the ICE to be abolished, illegally crossed into Mexico, flew an NYPD Counter-Terrorism airplane home from vacation – costing taxpayers millions — and now another huge victory for the hard-working Mayor.
New York is becoming the first major city in the U.S. to offer free phone calls from jails.
The New York Times says Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a bill into law on Monday. It takes effect in nine months.
Currently, local calls from Rikers Island cost 50 cents for the first minute and 5 cents for each additional minute.
About three quarters of people in the city’s jails have not been convicted of a crime and are there awaiting trial. Many are poor.
The move is part of a nationwide push from prison-rights groups, public defenders and prisoners’ families to limit private companies from profiting off incarceration.
The president of the correction officers’ union says free phone calls could aid gangs that run operations from inside the jails.
(AP)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
3 Responses
Without any doubt, this buffoon is a genius! One must wonder, though, about the people who voted for him. Here is a strong argument for the return of literacy tests at the polls.
Maybe he’s setting it up so that when he finally goes to jail for his criminal acts he’ll have a free phone calls.
Given the most people in the city’s jails are awaiting trial and are in jail only since they are too poor to post bail – meaning they have never been convicted and under American law are presumed innocent – it seems quite fair to allow them free phone service.
Persons convicted of serious crimes are in state or federal prisons, not local jails.