November Z, 2012_____________________________
^ ortlattö (DbserUer________________________
Page '3
________________O pinion
Isolation on Both Ends of the Line
The steep cost of staying in touch
o n s to so lic it b id s fro m m u ltip le
c o m p a n ie s. Y ou m ig h t p re su m e
th a t p ris o n s w o u ld c h o o se th e
lo w e st b id to c o n ta in c o sts. B ut
th e o p p o s ite is tru e.
In a c o m p le te d isto rtio n o f free-
m arket eco n o m ics, the p h one c o m ­
p a n ie s th a t sec u re c o n tra c ts w ith
p riso n s are o fte n the o n es th at
c h a rg e m o re th an th e ir c o m p e ti­
to rs. T h e ir h ig h b id s are a r tif i­
cially in flate d b ey o n d w hat it co sts
to p ro v id e se rv ic e b e c a u se th ey
in c lu d e a "co m m issio n " th at g o es
d ire c tly b a ck to th e p riso n .
A s a re su lt, c o n su m e rs p ay up
to 6 0 p e rc e n t m o re th an the actu al
c o st o f se rv ic e , a c c o rd in g to re ­
sea rc h by th e in d e p e n d e n t m a g a ­
z in e P riso n L eg al N ew s.
T h e re 's no state o r fed eral o v e r­
sig h t o f th e se co m m issio n s, w hich
is w hy W rig h t led a c la ss a c tio n
su it filed in 2000. In 2 0 0 1 , a ju d g e
re fe rre d th e case to the F e d e ra l
C om m u n icatio n s C om m issio n , c it­
C hancellar W illiams
W rig h t is p a rtia lly blind,
W hen M artha W right's
so tra v e lin g to see h er
g ra n d so n w ent to p riso n
g ra n d s o n o r w ritin g a
m ore than 20 years ago, she
le tte r w e re n 't re a listic
learned a stark lesson about
o p tio n s . S h e h a d to rely
the cost o f m aintaining ties
on p h o n e c a lls.
w ith a fam ily m em ber w ho is
S h e s o o n n o tic e d
incarcerated.
t h a t h e r p h o n e b ill
B eyond the isolation and deep ju m p e d fro m $ 5 0 to $ 7 5 , an d then
w ound o f being separated from a to n e arly $ 2 0 0 . A s so m eo n e liv in g
loved one, there's also a very steep on a fix e d in c o m e , W rig h t e v e n tu ­
price to staying in touch. T he c h il­ a lly h ad to re je c t so m e o f th e calls
dren, parents, siblings, and g ran d ­ fro m h e r g ra n d s o n ju s t to av o id
parents o f the incarcerated spend h ig h b ills. Im a g in e th e p ain o f re ­
as m uch as$17 fo ra 15-minute phone je c tin g a p h o n e call w ith o u t the
call w ith their loved ones behind o p p o rtu n ity to e x p la in the c irc u m ­
bars. A nd the people w ho benefit stan c e s. Im a g in e the iso la tio n that
the m ost from m aintaining co n n ec ­ c re a te s on b o th e n d s o f the line.
tions are often those w ho can least
So w hy are the M arth a W rig h ts
afford the excessive price tag.
o f th e w o rld p a y in g so m u ch fo r
W rig h t liv e s in W ash in g to n , b a sic p h o n e s e rv ic e ? T h e a n sw e r
D .C ., an d th a t's w h e re she re sid e d is a m o n o p o ly sy ste m th a t has
w h en h e r g ra n d so n U la n d is F o rte g o n e u n c h e c k e d fo r fa r to o long.
w as sen t to p riso n in L o rto n , Va. T h e c u rre n t s tru c tu re a llo w s p ris ­
by
in g th e a g e n c y 's ju ris d ic tio n o v e r
the re g u la tio n o f in te rsta te te le ­
p h o n e serv ice. T h is re fe rra l b e ­
c am e k n o w n as the W rig h t P e ti­
tio n , w h ich seek s a re stru c tu rin g
o f lo n g -d ista n c e c a llin g se rv ic e
fo r in c a rc e ra te d p eo p le.
R ep. B o b b y R u sh , D -Ill., e v en
in tro d u c e d th e F am ily T e le p h o n e
C o n n ectio n P ro tectio n A ct in 2007
to c re a te ru le s to re g u la te ra te s,
bu t it d id n 't p ass. He has re m a in e d
c o m m itte d to the cau se an d jo in e d
fo rce s w ith R ep . H en ry W ax m an ,
D -C a lif., to su b m it a le tte r to the
FC C in S e p te m b e r u rg in g th em to
act.
L aw m akers, organizations that
span the political spectrum , and con­
cerned m em bers o f the public have
all criticized the FC C ’s inaction to no
avail. It is a true m iscarriage o f ju s ­
tice that the governm ent has left the
incarcerated and their fam ilies on
hold for m ore than a decade.
M artha W right's grandson is now
a free man. B ut even though she no
longer has to struggle w ith the u n ­
fair cost o f prison phone calls, her
com m itm ent to the cause rem ains.
She's inspiring a m ovem ent to bring
ju stice to fam ilies w ho desire sim ple
fairness.
M ignon C ly b u m , an FC C c o m ­
m issioner, recently said she w as
proud to stand w ith W right in her
fight for those "w ho rem ain d esper­
ate to hear the voices o f their in car­
cerated loved ones on a regular
basis." N ow it's tim e for the rest o f
the FC C com m issioners to hear this
call and pass the W right Petition.
Justice has been delayed for far too
long.
Chancellar Williams is the gov­
ernment and external affairs man­
ager for Free Press, a non-profit
organization advocating for uni­
versal and affordable Internet ac­
cess, diverse media ownership, vi­
brant public media, and quality
journalism.
America: One Nation under Surveillance
Tracking your
every move
W illiam A . C ollins
D oes it m atter that the
federal g o v ern m en t can
track y o u r cell phone at
any m om ent o f the day?
T hat protesting at an event
w here the Secret Service
is present is now a felony? T hat any
A m erican can be ja ile d indefinitely
w ithout charge o r trial? T hat you
can suddenly be kept o ff all a ir­
planes w ithout being given a rea­
son, forever?
W ell, yes, those things m atter a
great deal. T hey are the stu ff o f a
police state. T hey usually pose a
by
d an g er to oth er nations and im pose
a great burden on their ow n citizens.
People subjected to such
oppression elsew here have
often com e to A m erica to
escape it.
In term s o f surveillance,
the cell phone is the instru­
m ent o f choice in tracking
your every m ove, but even
leaving it hom e is no sure
fix. City governm ents from Hartford,
C o n n ., to O a k lan d , C alif, have
p ushed (w ith varying degrees o f
success) to install cam eras at inter­
sections to p h o to g rap h y o u r v e­
hicle. T hey say it's in case you run
a red light. But groups like the A m eri­
can C ivil L iberties U nion w arn they
co u ld em p o w er the authorities to
(O bscruer
Established 1970
USPS 959-680 ________________________________
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
Charles H. Washington
EniTOR-Michael L eighton
A ssistant to P ubusher , P ublk R f . lations : M ark W ashington
C reative D irector : P aul N e u feld t
A ssistant to P ubusher , O ffice M anagfr /C lassifieds : Lucinda Baldwin
A ssistant P ubusher : Leonard Latin
A dvertising M anager , P ublic R eiations : Tony Washington
S taff W r ^ er /P hotographer : Cari Hachmann
*
E ditor - in -C hief , P ublisher :
ch eck on w here you've been.
say, it's best not to w ear a headscarf.
A nd if you h appen to m arch
M ost om inous o f all these trends
against prom inent politicians, p ar­ is the latest version o f the N ational
ticularly on m atters like w ar and D e fe n s e
A u th o r iz a tio n
A ct
peace or bank im punity, heaven help (N D A A ), w hich outlines each year
you. N o longer are there firm law s to how the Pentagon's budget will be
protect such com plainers.
divvied up and sets out operational
Police can chase you aw ay, steal policies.
y o u r belongings, read your m ail,
T he latest version, w ith b ip arti­
listen to your phone, and lock you san support, basically em pow ers
up. T h eir m ission is to preserve o r­ the m ilitary to detain anybody it
der, deter terrorists, stifle protest, w ants, at any tim e, w ith no form al
and protect elected leaders from charge, for as long as it desires. N or
em barrassm ent.
is this pow er lim ited to foreign battle­
O f course if you're M uslim , p ri­ fields — it also covers A m erican
vacy rem ains sim ply a dream . Y our soil.
m osque is under surveillance, your
W h ile th e c o r p o r a te - o w n e d
p e rso n is ra c ially p ro file d , and m e d ia rem ain d o c ile an d ra re ly
boarding an airplane can be a te n ­ re p o rt on th ese issu e s, the C o n ­
sion-filled adventure. N eedless to stitu tio n is sh iv e rin g in its fram e.
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A lert c itiz e n s have filed a law suit,
A fe d e ral ju d g e in itia lly g ra n te d
an in ju n c tio n a g a in st in d e fin ite
d e te n tio n p ra c tic e s w h ile the suit
w as in the co u rts. B ut on O ct. 2 the
g o v e rn m e n t's stay on th a t in ju n c ­
tio n , g ra n te d e a rlie r th is y ear, w as
e x te n d e d , c le a rin g th e w ay fo r in ­
d e fin ite d e te n tio n s.
Spying, eavesdropping, seizure,
and detention are the new m odes o f
A m erican security. O ld-fashioned
dissent is apparently far too d an ­
gerous. As a new bum per sticker
reads: "A m erica, O ne N ation, U n­
d er Surveillance."
OtherWords columnist William
A. Collins is a former state repre­
sentative and a former mayor o f
Norwalk, Conn.
THE LAW OFFICES OF
Patrick John Sweeney, PC.
Patrick John Sweeney
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Portland, Oregon
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