Telephone Campaign Updates

[Dazzler]

As of this morning we've had 101 signatures to the Illinois Campaign for Telephone Justice.  Yesterday more than 800 emails were sent out from IPT to members, organizations, family database contacts and list serves for many advocacy groups.  Two more groups have graciously signed on as supporting friends of ICTJ:  Fishers of Men Prison Ministries and the Chicago Black Radical Congress. 

I've contacted both the comptroller's office and also the IDOC for figures pertaining to their contract with Consolidated.  I'm hoping for some type of a reply today.

Thanks to all who have signed the petition and for leaving such supportive comments.

HOWEVER, now the work begins....we need our members to each commit to printing off some sheets of the petition and collecting signatures...from anywhere and anyone you might come into contact with.  Take the petition to your friends, families, co-workers, churches, bingo halls, hairdresser....LOL...any place that you might be able to gather signatures.  As yet I haven't seen anyone printing off this petition.....c'mon folks let's make this workable...we are making other contacts to help with this campaign....but we are the spearhead...we need to each do our part and we can realize success as the people of New York are enjoying....

Petitions are a way of showing our legislators that people are unhappy.....people who are vocal about creating changes in policy....this will be the first step in demanding legislative changes....we have a lot of work ahead of us...

Please forward the email that you should have each received yesterday...to your friends and contact lists...if only it could travel at the speed that some of those chain letter emails do...LOL...

[dancer]

I didn't print off because I signed online.   I don't think they are going to care about us out of staters!   We don't vote there.

I did a google search to see if our campaign showed up yet.  I'm posting this link in case we want to add our information there?  or in case it is helpful to us.  It shows national effort by CURE to reduce phone rates.   Maybe CURE can help us? 

http://www.etccampaign.com/etc/current_status.php

[Dazzler]

Yes, we will be contacting CURE also....I'm working on it...LOL...unless you want to help and contact them?

[dancer]

I can contact them tomorrow Daz.   I'd like to help. 

[dancer]

I just talked to Kay Perry of CURE in Mich.  She is the person who heads up the ETC web site given ,  that gives information on what groups are working on state by state to reduce the costs of prison phone calls.  It was very interesting.  I wish we had known of those efforts before we started.  But heck we are just starting here!

First off,  she says petitions are easy,  but don't get very good results.  She said the best way is to write, or phone your congress people,  or go to Springfield and talk to state represenatives ,  with copies of phone bills.  I think only ONE bill from each person is needed.  She said a group should go down to Springfield!!

She said to check out which legislative committees in IL focus on prison issues and talk to them.  Try to find out which legislators are sympathetic to these issues.  She said when you talk to congresspeople or state legislators let them know that we want the commissions to the IDOC  reduced or dropped.  There is  still security with the phone calls with debit systems, whether using a calling card or not.  The prisons can still monitor calls,  and victims or others can still block calls from inmates. 

She said Bobby Rush,  Congressman from IL,  has introduced a new bill!!  HR 555!  We need to support that.  Everyone,  including those of use in other states,  needs to call our congresspeople and ask them to support this bill! We can read about it on the Thomas web site.   This is very important.  She said we should demand that there be competition in what carrier we wish to use for the prison calls.  There should be regulation on the maximum rates that they can charge.  They should stop the call blocking unless people have prepaid etc. 

She said litigation has not proven to be successful.  Taking your bills to legislators has worked.  Also  copy your bills and send them to the public service commission.  Let them review "funky" charges such as universal fund taxes months behind the phone bills.  ( I had UF charges once  two successive months when I had no phone calls and they said they were legitimate.  if the taxes are not all included each month it's real hard to see the total cost of each call!)

In Arkansas the DOC was going to raise the kickbacks they get.  There was bidding very various companies on the contracts.  A company that did not win didn't think it was done fairly and  filed a complaint.  There were ethics involved.  Cure got involved, and some legislators listened and their DOC backed down. 

She said in talking to legislators,  be sure to let them know this will not compromise safety.  She said actually it is a public safety issue for phone calls to be very high,  as it cuts inmates off from their support system. 

And personally I think the issues of children not being able to stay in contact with incarcerated parents is a huge issue, and one that should be brought up.   Extended family raising kids are not also going to want to pay for collect calls unless they are well off financially and/or close to the inmate.  Foster families will not pay for the calls out of pocket.  Children of inmates are in a high risk onto their own.  It is very important for them to know their parents and make their own decisions about them. 

[dancer]

She will put our efforts on their web site and take a look here. 

[Dazzler]

Update on our Telephone Campaign.  As of today we've received 330 signatures on our petition at Illinois Campaign for Telephone Justice.  We've received some very encouraging comments from many signers...however, this is not enough to push this campaign forward...we need more signatures before approaching legislators for relief.  A few members have printed petitions and are gathering signatures...but we need more participation.  I'd like to thank Ielene and a few others who have sent signed petitions to our PO Box.  The Covenant United Church of Christ in South Holland also forward several signed petitions to us.  Thank you. 

So, how about it forum?  If you'd each download one copy of that petition and get your friends/family/co-workers to sign it we'd be able to move ahead on this issue.....I think there's 14 signature lines on each page of the petition....

[JKeller57]

I agree the telephone service rates that they charge the consumers are outrageous. My phone bill is double the cost each and every month of a regular bill because of these rates. Who decides the rates? We are poor people struggling to hear from our loved ones. This makes no sense. I'm all for making any changes necessary.

[dcal5150]

I emailed my congressman here to support this bill.  Hope it helps. His name is George Miller and is very good.

[Dazzler]

Just want you all to know that our member Ielene is kicking butt on getting paper petitions signed for the Telephone Campaign....c'mon everyone....just circulate a few and we'll have enough to approach some legislators....

[Susan]

I'm so sorry, somehow I missed this thread. I'll print one and start it going, too.

[Dazzler]

Thanks so much Susan.  If each of us would just submit one or two signed petitions it would make a huge difference in this campaign...we can't approach legislators with only a handful...we need to show them that there are many, many inmate families that are behind this endeavor.....

[husbandlockedup]

Hi,
I wanted to let you know I wrote my local state rep. concerning the high Consoildated rates and they forwarded a letter today to IL Department of Corrections Ms. Deanne Benos, Deputy Director
now I'm awaiting for the reply... I wanted to let you know I didn't get anything signed but I did write a letter...