The terrible thing is that not only are the prices predatory, but they arguably harm rehabilitation, since family contact is associated with better (i.e. lower) recidivism rates.
When I saw the subheadline "'Hundreds of jails' eliminated visits," I assumed this allegation was going to related to the places that used COVID as an excuse (valid or not) to cut in-person visits. I was surprised to find that these allegations pre-date that, even though I'm aware that many places have come up with all sorts of other reasons to discourage in-person visits, like concern that visitors might sneak drugs or other items inside. (Which isn't to say I agree with that justification.)
Only kinda related, but I also find it crazy when I read about getting rid of prison libraries in favor of making incarcerated folks (and really, their families) buy books (or pay per minute) on tablet devices.
Before reading the numbers in the rest of this, bear in mind that in many places inmates wages are only in the ballpark or $0.15-$0.30 per hour of labor. [0]
For example [1]:
> In January, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) adopted new restrictions [...] Incoming mail—including handwritten letters, cards, and photos, but excluding legal mail—will be digitized by JPay, a for-profit contractor [...] People in prison will only be able to view the scanned version on their personal tablets or at communal kiosks. They won’t get the originals, but they can request to have scans printed for them for a fee: $0.10 per page for black-and-white copies, $1 per page for color.
> [...] In North Carolina, senders must now use an app from the contractor TextBehind to draft letters or create digital cards and drawings. Fees start at $0.49 and increase with every photo or drawing.
Even with e-mail, it can cost someone $0.05/minute just for the time spent typing things out, even before sending or printing. [2]
[0] https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/04/10/wages/
[1] https://www.vera.org/news/more-and-more-prisons-are-banning-...
[2] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/the-banality-of...
Yes, writing letters, definitely a reasonable alternative to phone calls, no concerns about timeliness and even delivery.
Not to mention that a significant portion of prisoners are illiterate or very weakly literate.
I work in the telecom industry and the the prison phone scam drive me absolutely nuts because I know the actual costs so well. I could easily and profitably provide a system at a fraction of the costs these ripoff vendors charge, but of course then there would be nothing to split with the prison, the state, etc.