SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) There is an imperative to protect incarcerated Californians and their loved ones from detrimental practices by private corporations providing goods and services to people confined in carceral facilities throughout the state.
(b) Jail and prison telecommunications is a $1,400,000,000 industry dominated by a few corporations that charge high rates for communication. This industry is consistently diversifying the array of communications services it provides to jails and prisons, which now includes phone calls, video conferencing, electronic messages, and other communication services. Incarcerated people and their support networks must be protected from its exorbitant costs across these and future communication services.
(c) The high cost of jail and prison communications services are a significant economic drain, extracting tens of millions of dollars from low-income people and disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities in California. Research from the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights has shown that one in three families with an incarcerated loved one goes into debt over the cost of communication and visits, and 87 percent of those carrying these costs are women, disproportionately Black and Brown women.
(d) Maintaining family and community connection and economic stability while incarcerated is key to successful reentry, and it is therefore in the interest of all Californians to reduce the economic burden associated with communication in jails and prisons. Families play a major role in reentry. Many incarcerated people will reside with their families after release. Research shows that incarcerated individuals who maintain ties with their support networks have higher success rates and lower recidivism rates upon release.
(e) Programs and services currently provided in jails and prisons are in the interest of community safety and well-being by providing education and rehabilitation, and thus must be supported by General Fund dollars rather than commissions on communication costs paid by families with incarcerated loved ones, who are also taxpayers.
(f) There is national momentum to provide communication services in jails and prisons at no cost to incarcerated people and their support networks. New York City was the first city jail system to do so in 2018 and Connecticut was the first state prison system to do so in 2021. There are now active campaigns in more than a dozen states across the country, including Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Virginia, among others.
(g) There is local support for providing free communications services to incarcerated people and their loved ones. A 2019 poll commissioned by Worth Rises showed that 69 percent of Californians support free communication in jails and prisons. Additionally, the City and County of San Francisco and the County of San Diego have made all phone calls from county jails and juvenile facilities free and the County of Los Angeles has also declared its intent to do the same.