#Imagine #paying a #month's #wages to #talk to your #loved ones for 30 #minutes.

For These Inmates, Reading One Book Could Cost Three Months' Worth of Labor Wages. How Is This Fair? Sign Now Dear friends, America's criminal justice system is broken. The incarceration rate has increased by 500% in the last 40 years, while crime rates have actually fallen. People from communities of color and low-income households are disproportionately locked up. Overcrowded facilities stretch state funds thin. Now, a new trend in a handful of states aims to bolster these funds by preying on what little money inmates have — all the while decreasing their access to the outside world. Sign the petition today and demand that Congress stop states from preying on their inmates. Almost 20% of U.S. states have allowed their prison and jail facilities to partner with private companies to "provide" tablets to inmates for reading e-books and video conferencing with family. But these services come at a price. For one minute of reading inside a West Virginia prison, for example, inmates are charged five cents. The average reader takes between four and six hours to read a 200-page book. For a video conference with loved ones in Missouri — a state that has seen policies shift to increasingly banned or restricted physical visits — 30 minutes costs $7.50. That's more than an inmate's entire monthly wage. These prices are devastating. In the past 20 years, compensation for (often mandatory) labor in prisons and jails has dropped from 93 cents a day to 86 cents a day. In facilities where access to reading materials and visits from the outside world are increasingly restricted, inmates are being forced to spend what little money they have on these precious resources. Educational materials and contact with loved ones are inherently tied to inmates' success in reintegrating into the world once they are released. But the prison industrial complex doesn't care, as long as there's another dollar to make. Congressional representatives from Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey are drafting a bill to put an end to these predatory programs. Please sign the petition today to make sure Congress knows to vote YES on this bill when it is introduced! Thank you,   Lauren W. The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. Prisoners need support and rehabilitation, not extortion. Please sign the petition.