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Telephones

Interview with Larry, Tawnie and Henry

JM: Did you have regular access to telephones?
Larry: only when you had pod time. which was all dependent on what officer worked that day and if he felt like letting you out. Some days we got no pod time at all.
Tawnie: There are three phones in each dorm, but they would only be turned on from about 11am - 5pm, then again from 6:45pm - 10pm.
Henry: yes, i had access to a phone anytime i wanted once i was in the working section.but in the regular blocks, you have to wait until they open your cell, and then you have people rushing to use the phones and it could turn into a problem.

JM: What types of charges applied for calling people? How much money would you guess the average inmate spends per week on phone calls?
Larry: they had the regular toll/collect charges. The only hook to that was it was double the regular charge because they used some collect call company that was based in texas. Iif you called home and talked for a half an hour your bill would be at least $20.
Tawnie: You could only call collect or by using a phone card. The charges for calling collect I was told were about $0.30-0.50/minute.
Henry: i forgot exactly what types of charges, but it was not cheap.per week... is hard to say, but per phone call, i think the timer was 15 minutes, and it costs about 3 bucks per call? something like that.. if you use the phone everyday,more than once a day, you could be looking at 50- 100$ bill at the end of the week.

JM: Did you need to buy phone cards to call out?
Larry: no. they just had touchtone phones when I was there.
Tawnie: On commissary once a week, you could buy a $20 phone card (and only one per week). They would be good for 60 minutes only.
Henry: yes, i bought phone cards, not mandatory, unless they were implementing that new rule while i was there. but you didnt need a card, yet it was cheaper and faster so i just bought one every week to use.. i think it was 10-20$ bucks.

JM: Did the jail screen your calls?
Larry: all jails screen all calls just in case you are planning something or threatening someone. I remember always hearing an audible beep every once in a while to let you know they were recording it.
Tawnie: All phone calls were recorded. Even when I called my lawyer, my lawyer would have to say at the beginning of our call "Anyone listening, this is a priviledged conversation between attorney and client."
Henry: im sure they did... i dont remember any specific times but im sure they were listening.

Read about how inmates pass the time in the San Mateo County Jail