No-Cost Phone Calls signed Nov. 16

In a victory for prisoners and their families, Governor Healey has signed the “Putting Families Over Prison Profiteering” bill, passed by the MA legislature, into law. This establishes Massachusetts as the fifth state in the nation to make prison phone calls free–and the first state to extend the provision to county jails and houses of correction as well as prisons. The new law will end the exorbitant charges prisoners and their families currently pay to stay in touch. It applies to phone and video calls and emails, and goes into effect December 1.