Help keep families connected with incarcerated loved ones!

Dear friends,

We need you to call the State House right now in support of two bills that will help keep families keep connected with incarcerated loved ones.  S.1372 will provide no-cost phone calls to people in state and county prisons, and H.2047 will remove restrictions on visits in state prisons. Both are before the Public Safety Committee in the Massachusetts legislature.  The Committee will be voting any day now on whether to move them forward so please call ASAP.  

Who to call:  Please call the Chairs of the Committee, Sen. Moore, (617) 722-1485, and Rep. Naughton, (617) 722-2230, and tell them how important this legislation is to you and ask them to vote them out of committee favorably.   Please also call your own Senator and Representative (get their contact info by entering your street address below) and ask that they send this message to the Chairs.

What to say:  Here is a sample script that may help you with your call.

Hello my name is _____ and I live in ______ and I'm calling today to express my support S.1372, which will provide no-cost phone calls to people in jail and prison and H.2047, which will strengthen visitation policies.  These bills will keep families connected and make communities stronger and safer. The Public Safety Committee should report both of these bills favorably.

Phone calls are a lifeline for incarcerated people and their loved ones. Children need to be able to speak with incarcerated parents. Incarcerated people need connections to succeed after prison. While S.1430 would help by reducing the cost burden on families, it would not eliminate charges for calls.  That’s why I ask that you support S.1372 and remove the cost of prison phone calls.

Visitation rules in the Department of Correction now unfairly limit each visitor to one prisoner, and each prisoner is limited in the number of visitors they can receive.  And visitors are subject to arbitrary and sometimes abusive treatment. H.2047 will help preserve family ties by eliminating these barriers to visits.

Please report  both of these bills favorably.