Article
Jail Communications
Santa Barbara Lawyer Magazine
(2020)
Abstract
In this issue, we will
look at jail communications. The system in place in Santa
Barbara is run by one of the two major jail telephone system
operators, Telmate which merged with Global Tel*Link.
The Telmate/GTL system is an extremely profitable government
contract issued by the County with little public
input and with no real competition.
We will briefly discuss the costs of this system to the
inmates and their families and loved ones as well as to the
lawyers who practice criminal law. The actual monetary
cost is not easy to calculate but, suffice it to say, it is substantial
and is a regressive tax on those least able to pay for
it. We will then go on to discuss the intrusions into privacy
and the ability of inmates and others to communicate and
maintain relationships. Most of the people in the Santa
Barbara County system are presumed innocent as pretrial
detainees but innocent, guilty or otherwise, the impact of
these contracts for audio, video and financial payments
will be explored.
Keywords
- Jail,
- jail communications,
- telmate,
- gtl,
- jail calls,
- jail videos,
- prison calls,
- prision communications,
- county contracts,
- county jail,
- constitutional rights,
- inmate rights,
- inmate communications,
- inmate telephone,
- inmate video
Disciplines
Publication Date
2020
Citation Information
Robert M. Sanger. "Jail Communications" Santa Barbara Lawyer Magazine Vol. August (2020) p. 16 - 20 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/robert_sanger/49/
Creative Commons license
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY International License.