Two lawsuits filed by an activist group allege a conspiracy between Michigan counties and jail phone companies. The lawsuit alleges that the scheme involved a “quid pro quo kickback scheme” that eliminated in-person prison visits to increase the company’s profits. As part of the scheme, a portion of those profits were allegedly then shared with the county.
Civil Rights Corps is a non-profit organization self description “Dedicated to challenging systemic injustices in the American legal system,” the two lawsuits were recently filed alleging similar schemes in St. Clair and Genesee counties in Michigan. These arrangements involve business relationships with the St. Clair and Genesee County Sheriffs and are based on the elimination of in-person jail visits. Under the new system, visitors to the jail must pay for phone calls to incarcerated people, which are then shared between service providers and counties, the lawsuit says.
For example, in the following case St. Clair LitigationNamed St. Clair County Sheriff Mat King, jail phone company Securus and other companies related to the deal as defendants, the lawsuit claims:
On September 22, 2017, St. Clair County officials decided to implement a new policy: a family visitation ban that prohibits people from visiting family members incarcerated in county jails… The county’s decision comes in conjunction with Securus Technologies, a for-profit company Sex companies, which contract with prisons to charge families of incarcerated people exorbitant fees to communicate with each other through “services” such as low-quality phone calls and video calls. County officials agreed to ban in-person visits to the jail in exchange for a significant cut in Securus’ future revenue.
Meanwhile, in the case of Genesee County, litigation Similar arguments were made. It claims Genesee once again colluded with Securus to end in-person family visits at county jails:
On September 22, 2014, Genesee County officials enacted a new policy: a family visitation ban that prohibits people from visiting family members incarcerated in county jails… The county’s initial decision in 2014 was to exchange kickback programs with Securus Part of the technology…
However, Genesee later changed providers from Securus to another phone provider, then named Global Tel*Link Corporation (GTL) but later renamed ViaPath. The focus of the deal remains on extracting funds from the payphones that visitors must make to communicate with incarcerated people in prisons, and sharing the profits between the government and the company:
In 2018, under the direction of then-Deputy Sheriff (now Sheriff) Christopher Swanson, the warden told customers of Global Tel*Link Corporation (GTL), the country’s other major prison telecommunications company Supervisor, county defendants hope to earn more from phone and video calls than cash incentive arrangement with Securus: “We want the best deal you can,” he wrote. He got it.
The county defendants changed service providers at the jail, negotiated with GTL and then signed a contract in 2018. Under that contract, which is still in effect, GTL paid the county defendants $180,000 annually from the company’s phone revenue, an annual cash payment it called a $60,000 “technology grant,” and 20 percent of the cost of each video call (Video call contract price: $10.00 for 25 minutes). GTL estimates that the county will generate an additional $16,000 per year in revenue from video calls alone.
Cody Cutting is an attorney with the civil rights group, told the detroit free press: “These cases require urgent action from the courts because children are suffering. The fact that these children are separated from their parents every day makes their suffering even more painful. But these cases also raise a wider question: will we, as a public, To condone a criminal system so amoral that it supports the punishment and exploitation of children, families and communities?”
ViaPath (formerly GTL) tells New York Times The company “denies the allegations in the complaint and looks forward to the opportunity to defend itself against the allegations made against it.”
Meanwhile, Easy Technologies Tell Ars Technica The case was “misguided and baseless.” We look forward to defending ourselves and we will not let this lawsuit impact our successful efforts to create meaningful and positive outcomes for the consumers we serve. “
Gizmodo contacted ViaPath and Securus, as well as the St. Clair County and Genesee County Sheriff’s Offices. We will update this story when they respond.