![]() In this table, “Active since” denotes the date that installation of tablet equipment in the correctional facility began. For more on GTL and Securus (JPay), the predominant tablet providers, see our recent report State of Phone Justice. Contracts are listed from oldest to newest. Findings from our analysis of eight “no-cost” contracts between state Departments of Corrections and tablet providers. Exempt providers from replacing a broken tablet if they think it was “willfully” damaged – a loophole ripe for exploitation, as prison tablets are cheaply made and break easily.Allow providers to terminate tablet services if the tablets aren’t profitable enough.Allow tablet providers to alter the prices of services – such as email, music and money transfer – without state approval.Guarantee the Department of Corrections a portion of tablet revenue.Even sending an email requires a paid “stamp.” Furthermore, our recent analysis of these contracts suggests that they actually put the interests of incarcerated people last, prioritizing cost savings and the provider’s bottom line. (To be clear, these aren’t like the iPads you can buy at a store they’re cheaply made, with no internet access.)īut as with most state contracts that appear to cost nothing, there is a catch – several, in fact.įirst, the “free” tablets charge users at every opportunity, including above-market prices for phone calls, video chats and media. Though many prisons already allow incarcerated people to buy tablets, these contracts provide something different: Tablets for free, ostensibly at no cost to either consumers or taxpayers. Twelve states have recently signed contracts with prison telecom companies to provide tablet computers to incarcerated people – a sharp increase since we began analyzing these contracts in 2017. This article was updated on with details about California’s prison tablet contract. 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.
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