Post by Hey Buss on Jul 14, 2009 17:35:15 GMT -5
States to Jam Prison Cellphone Signals
By nytimes.com
Published: 07/14/2009
States Seek to Jam Prison Cellphone Signals
By Solomon Moore
Published: July 13, 2009
South Carolina petitioned the Federal Communications Commission on Monday to protect the public safety by blocking signals from contraband cellphones emanating from prisons.
Officials with two dozen other state corrections agencies also signed the petition, which was filed two days before the Senate commerce committee is scheduled to hold hearings on legislation that would waive a 1934 federal ban on telecommunications jamming for prisons and other exceptional cases.
Lobbyists for telecommunication companies say that any weakening of antijamming legislation could become a slippery slope that eventually could inappropriately limit cellphone use.
Law enforcement officials say that smuggled cellphones are a growing problem across the country, allowing inmates to make unmonitored calls.
In April, a federal jury in Baltimore sentenced Patrick A. Byers Jr. to life for using a cellphone from jail to order the assassination of a witness against him.
Cellphones have been used in other state prisons and local jails to carry out extortion schemes, tax evasion plots, drug deals, credit card fraud, prison riots and escapes. Often prepaid, untraceable cellphones are smuggled into prisons with the assistance of guards or visitors, or are thrown over prison fences. Once the cellphone is inside, prisoners hide it among their belongings and often share it for a price.
California corrections officials reported confiscating 2,809 cellphones in 2008. Mississippi officials found 1,861, and federal prison officials found 1,623.
In 2008, Richard Tabler, a death row inmate in Texas, called State Senator John Whitmire directly on his cellphone. Mr. Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, is chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee.
“He wanted to talk about conditions on death row,” Mr. Whitmire said. “In my mind, I thought I was talking to a concerned guard. I said, ‘Where are you?’ And he said: ‘I’m on death row. I’m an inmate. I’m on a cellphone I bought for $2,100.’ ”
By nytimes.com
Published: 07/14/2009
States Seek to Jam Prison Cellphone Signals
By Solomon Moore
Published: July 13, 2009
South Carolina petitioned the Federal Communications Commission on Monday to protect the public safety by blocking signals from contraband cellphones emanating from prisons.
Officials with two dozen other state corrections agencies also signed the petition, which was filed two days before the Senate commerce committee is scheduled to hold hearings on legislation that would waive a 1934 federal ban on telecommunications jamming for prisons and other exceptional cases.
Lobbyists for telecommunication companies say that any weakening of antijamming legislation could become a slippery slope that eventually could inappropriately limit cellphone use.
Law enforcement officials say that smuggled cellphones are a growing problem across the country, allowing inmates to make unmonitored calls.
In April, a federal jury in Baltimore sentenced Patrick A. Byers Jr. to life for using a cellphone from jail to order the assassination of a witness against him.
Cellphones have been used in other state prisons and local jails to carry out extortion schemes, tax evasion plots, drug deals, credit card fraud, prison riots and escapes. Often prepaid, untraceable cellphones are smuggled into prisons with the assistance of guards or visitors, or are thrown over prison fences. Once the cellphone is inside, prisoners hide it among their belongings and often share it for a price.
California corrections officials reported confiscating 2,809 cellphones in 2008. Mississippi officials found 1,861, and federal prison officials found 1,623.
In 2008, Richard Tabler, a death row inmate in Texas, called State Senator John Whitmire directly on his cellphone. Mr. Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, is chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee.
“He wanted to talk about conditions on death row,” Mr. Whitmire said. “In my mind, I thought I was talking to a concerned guard. I said, ‘Where are you?’ And he said: ‘I’m on death row. I’m an inmate. I’m on a cellphone I bought for $2,100.’ ”