Leah Wang | November 17, 2022

Mail scanning: A harsh and exploitative new trend in prisons

In at least 14 states, people in state prisons are falling victim to a scan: Prisons are replacing physical mail with scanned copies, a policy that benefits private companies.

Leah Wang | December 21, 2021

Research roundup: The positive impacts of family contact for incarcerated people and their families

The research is clear: visitation, mail, phone, and other forms of contact between incarcerated people and their families have positive impacts for everyone — including better health, reduced recidivism, and improvement in school. Here’s a roundup of over 50 years of empirical study, and a reminder that prisons and jails often pay little more than lip service to the benefits of family contact.

Katie Rose Quandt and Andrea Fenster | March 23, 2021

It’s all about the incentives: Why a call home from a jail in New York State can cost 7 times more than the same call from the state’s prisons

Wanda Bertram | November 14, 2019

The law is supposed to protect consumers from exploitation, but it’s not protecting people in prisons and jails

When the only way to get necessities in prison is to buy them from a single retailer, exploitation is the result.

Mack Finkel and Wanda Bertram | March 7, 2019

More states are signing harmful “free prison tablet” contracts

Tablet computers are delivering a captive audience to profit-seeking companies, while enabling prisons to cut essential services like law libraries. We investigate.

Peter Wagner and Alexi Jones | February 11, 2019

On kickbacks and commissions in the prison and jail phone market

Phone providers are so creative in their influence-peddling that the most viable reform strategies do not focus only on "commissions."

Wanda Bertram and Peter Wagner | July 24, 2018

How to spot the hidden costs in a “no-cost” tablet contract

There's no such thing as a free lunch - or a free tablet.

Stephen Raher | July 6, 2017

The Wireless Prison: How Colorado’s tablet computer program misses opportunities and monetizes the poor

Colorado's tablet program foreshadows a potential new paradigm in corrections, shifting numerous communications, educational, and recreational functions to a for-profit contractor; and making incarcerated people and their families pay for services that are commonly funded by the state.