Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2018)
Page 8A NATION/WORLD East Oregonian Many rooting for inmates after credit bug exposed on devices By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Officials say it was “inten- tional exploitation,” while some inmates’ families described it as more of a “glitch.” Either way, reports that 364 Idaho inmates had a quarter-million dollars in credits improperly applied to their JPay tablet accounts had many on social media rooting for the prisoners. Officials said the improper credits occurred when individuals placed products in their digital shop- ping carts and then removed them in a way that created a credit that was added to their total funds available. Idaho Department of Cor- rection investigators discov- ered the issue earlier this month, and the department has taken disciplinary action against those who received credits, contending the actions were intentional. The hand-held computer tablets are popular in prisons across the country, and they are made available to Idaho inmates through a contract with CenturyLink and JPay. The tablets allow inmates to email their families and friends, purchase and listen to music or play simple elec- tronic games. The services come at a steep cost for inmates and their loved ones. For exam- ple, sending a one-page email from an Idaho prison costs about 50 cents. Idaho inmates who have prison jobs make between 10 and 90 cents an hour. That means some inmates must work five hours to afford to send one email. Cheaper options aren’t available, since JPay and similar companies negotiate with prison facilities to hold monopoly contracts that AP Photo/Charlie Litchfield, File In this 2010 file photo, inmates walk to the dining hall from their cell block at the Idaho State Correctional In- stitution outside Boise, Idaho. Officials say it was an “intentional exploitation,” while some inmates’ fami- lies described it more as a “glitch.” make them the only provider of email and other services. The recent hack — or glitch, depending on who you ask — seemed akin to a Robin Hood story for some. Cara Berg Powers, exec- utive director of the Trans- formative Culture Project in Massachusetts, was among those voicing support for the inmates on Twitter. “Because we keep using technology and private cor- porations to make experi- ences for prisoners and their loved ones less and less humane,” she wrote in one tweet. She went on to say the inmates should all be offered coding jobs, and joked that the credits likely were only enough to purchase a single bag of chips. It’s hard to feel bad when a company that charges 47 cents for an email acciden- tally lets some people send emails for free, said Peter Wagner, executive direc- tor of Prison Policy Insti- tute, an advocacy group that has fought to limit the prices companies can charge inmates for things like phone calls. “These are the poor- est folks in the state ... and they are being asked to pay unreasonable sums of money to stay in touch with their loved ones,” Wagner said, noting that one in four women in America have an incarcerated loved one. JPay spokesperson Jade Trombetta said in a prepared statement that the company invests millions of dollars to create secure products and pointed out that the price of an email typically runs less than a stamp. “These products help incarcerated Americans stay connected with loved ones, provide access to educa- tional tools, assist in the rehabilitation process and offer other services that would otherwise be unavail- able in jails and prisons,” Trombetta said. Idaho Department of Cor- rection spokesman Jeff Ray has stressed that the agency believes inmates deliber- ately took advantage of the issue to boost their own accounts. “This conduct was inten- tional, not accidental. It required a knowledge of the JPay system and multi- ple actions by every inmate who exploited the system’s vulnerability,” Ray said in a prepared statement. Of the 364 inmates who allegedly exploited the issue, 50 credited their accounts in amounts exceeding $1,000. One inmate had a credit that was just under $10,000. In all, a total of nearly $225,000 was directed into inmate accounts. Ray said the inmates involved were being given disciplinary offense reports by prison officials, which means they could lose priv- ileges or be moved to stricter security classification levels. The disciplinary reports can also hurt an inmate’s chance of receiving parole. Melissa King of Doug- lasville, Georgia, said her brother, an Idaho inmate, is nearing his release date but now fears he won’t get out because he received a disci- plinary report after receiving a $380 credit from JPay. She said her brother described the credit as a “misapplied payment from JPay” that he did nothing to obtain. “I’m trying to get to the bottom of it from states away,” King said. “They’re saying that it was basically a misapplied payment, some- thing that can happen with your bank or anybody else.” King said her family is willing to pay back the money, but first she wants an itemized statement from JPay showing the transfer and how it was spent. She says she’s asked the com- pany for a statement for six days but has yet to receive a response. Inmates often rely on deposits from families and friends into their JPay and other accounts. Those depos- its also come with fees: In Idaho, a $20 deposit to an inmate’s account comes with a $3.50 charge. Saturday, July 28, 2018 Judge credits, faults administration on family reunification Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge commended the Trump administration for reunifying families in its custody with their chil- dren after being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, while faulting it for leav- ing hundreds of families still apart and warning that a better system must be in place. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw said the gov- ernment gets “great credit” after reunifying more than 1,800 children 5 and over with parents or sponsors by Thursday’s court-im- posed deadline. He pointed out that many of the families were reunited while in custody then turned his attention to 431 children whose par- ents have been deported. “The government is at fault for losing several hundred parents in the pro- cess and that’s where we go next,” the judge said. Sabraw ordered the government and the Amer- ican Civil Liberties Union, which represents the par- ents, to submit written updates every Thursday on still-separated families. The order signaled slightly looser oversight than Sabraw imposed last month with frequent hear- ings to make sure his dead- line was met. In late June, the judge gave the government 14 days to reunify chil- dren under 5 and 30 days to reunite children 5 and older with their families. Sabraw said the “prob- lem” could not be repeated, describing how Home- land Security, Health and Human Services and Jus- tice departments didn’t have a system to keep track of the families that were separated when the administration introduced a “zero tolerance” policy toward illegal entry. “Each (department) was like its own stovepipe, each had its own boss, and they did not communi- cate,” he said. “What was lost in the process was the family.” Sabraw didn’t rule immediately on a request by the ACLU to give par- ents a week to decide whether or not to seek asylum after the group is notified that the family is reunited. As a result, a temporary halt on deporta- tions remained in place. Earlier Friday, Home- land Security officials said they had reunified all eligi- ble parents with children — but noted many others were not eligible because they had been released from immigration custody, are in their home countries or chose not to be reunited. More than 1,800 chil- dren 5 and older had been reunited with parents or sponsors as of Thursday. That included 1,442 chil- dren who were returned to parents who were in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, and another 378 who were released under a variety of other circumstances. On a parallel legal front, a federal judge in Los Angeles said Fri- day that she will appoint an independent monitor to evaluate conditions for immigrant children in U.S. border facilities in Texas following a spate of reports of spoiled food, insuffi- cient water and frigid con- ditions faced by the young- sters and their parents. pendleton Get that Summer Break feeling in a new Toyota! Round - Up! 2018 East Oregonian’s Annual Pendleton Round-Up Magazine! CARS 2018 2018 Gas or Hybrid APR 60 mo. 0 % $2,250 OR 60 mo. 2 . 9 % APR Cash Back SUVS 2018 Gas or Hybrid LEASE A NEW 2018 $2,500 AWD Cash Back LEASE A NEW 2018 XLE $ 309 mo. 36 mos. $ 0 Security Deposit SR5 $ 3,599 Due at Signing $ 349 mo. 36 mos. 4X4 $ 0 Security Deposit • 12K Copy Distribution • 4 Major Publications Don’t miss your opportunity to advertise in the 2018 Pendleton Round-Up Magazine! With a distribution across Eastern Oregon of 12K issues this is the premier advertising you have been looking for. High gloss, high resolution and highly collectible! $ 3,299 Due at Signing AWD PUBLISHES: September 8, 2018 East Oregonian September 5, 2018 Wallowa County Chieftain Blue Mountain Eagle Hermiston Herald Call your Rep today for more info. Space is limited. Deadline is July 30th. DEADLINE: July 30, 2018 TRUCKS PENDLETON 4X4 LEASE A NEW 2018 CrewMax Excludes TRD Pro TRD 60 mo. 0 . 9 % APR Off-Road Double Cab Excludes TRD Pro $ 299 mo. 36 mos. $ 0 Security Deposit 2018 Kimberly Macias 541-278-2683 Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 kmacias@eastoregonian.com atreadwell@eastoregonian.com OR $2,000 Cash Back $ 2,349 HERMISTON Due at Signing 4X4 BuyAToyota.com Every new Toyota comes with All financing on approved credit through TFS. All vehicles subject to prior sale. All prices plus tax and title. Dealer doc fees vary by dealer. For more details call 1-888-21-TOYOTA. Offers end 7/31/18. Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 Audra Workman 541-564-4538 jjewett@hermistonherald.com aworkman@eastoregonian.com
