A new bill would prohibit jail officials from suspending phone privileges for more than 90 days consecutively, or 180 days in one year. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Lawmakers want to limit how often correctional officials can discipline incarcerated people by taking away their phone privileges, a move that comes months after the state’s prison oversight office said such discipline undermines rehabilitation.
A new bill would prohibit jail officials from suspending phone privileges for more than 90 days consecutively, or 180 days in one year of incarceration. If someone’s phone privileges are suspended, the bill would require that they still be able to make one phone call every two weeks.
Terry Schuster, the New Jersey corrections ombudsperson, said the legislation would allow for reasonable disciplinary rules but recognizes that “best practices don’t authorize cutting people off from their families as a punishment.”
“Reasonable people can disagree about how frequently or how long a punishment could last, but even when they’ve broken the prison rules, not sever ties with their families and give them a chance to let families know their calls are going to be restricted,” he said.
An April report from Schuster’s office found that nearly 20% of the prison population surveyed had their phone privileges revoked in 2023. The sanctions are typically imposed due to refusing to follow orders or assaultive behavior, and sanctions can be stacked consecutively, according to the report.
Investigators found some extreme cases, including one person at South Woods State Prison who lost their phone privileges for almost nine years and another who lost access for more than four years, extending beyond his release date.
The bill would implement other restrictions on phone privilege suspensions. Correctional officials would not be able to suspend phone privileges within 60 days of someone’s release date, and additional phone restrictions could not be placed once someone is placed in disciplinary units that already restrict telephone access.
The bill has at least one critic. William Sullivan, head of the New Jersey Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local #105, which represents more than 5,000 state correctional officers, said he thinks prison discipline should be meted out by correctional officials, not legislators.
Sullivan said lawmakers often pass bills without considering their financial impact, like whether their mandates would require more staffing or additional funding. Sullivan would rather see the Department of Corrections implement internal policies to decide when and how phone privileges can be revoked.
He added that phone privileges are one of the few tools officials can use in prison to maintain order and discipline.
“You’ll have inmates that’ll call victims, they’ll conduct gang activity, they’ll threaten people over the phone,” Sullivan said. “It’s not good to not leave an avenue to take the phone away from those that do abuse it.”
Schuster said some families call his office concerned about their loved ones in prison because no one tells them their phone privileges were taken away for an extended time. Under the bill, corrections officials would be required to notify the emergency contact of the incarcerated person that their phone privileges have been revoked, or allow the person to notify their emergency contact.
While the bill would not implement oversight to ensure the new rules are put in place, Schuster said his office is equipped to deal with any reported violations if the bill were to pass and be signed into law.
He also noted that incarcerated people have access to other forms of communication with their loved ones.
“The personal tablets, that’s going to give people much more access to their loved ones compared to waiting in line for the pay phone, so that’s a big deal,” he said.
The bill, introduced last week in the Assembly, has yet to be scheduled for a hearing in either legislative chamber.
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