
Making Profits on the Captive Prison Market (2016) - f-securus
https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/making-profits-on-the-captive-prison-market
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f-securus
I just received a phone call from my mom who was disgruntled that the county
jail now requires $20 to make a visitation appointment from home. The
alternative is to drive almost an hour away to make an appointment for free at
the facility, but not a same day appointment (so what previously took one
evening, now takes two and a week of planning). For somebody with low income
it has become difficult to do something that was traditionally done in one
evening with no fee. Now they are charging a premium for 'convenience'. I am
dumbfounded that this behavior is allowed. Anti consumer monopolies are
totally allowed within jails.

The facilities that use these 3rd party services receive a percentage of the
fees. So you create conflict of interest. Higher recidivism rate = more money
for the jails.

