REDUCE RATES for CORRECTIONAL FACILITY collect calls

To MCI & The Department of Corrections:

This petition is to ask that you Stop the Contract between MCI and The Department of Corrections. It is not fair that inmates must limit themselves to phonecalls to their loved ones because of financial difficulties. Collect calls have been made a flat connection fee of $3.00 and 16 cents per minute which is absolutely outrageous. It is already tough for families and friends to deal with the fact that their loved ones are incarcerated and also the fact that many of them are hours and hours away which make it hard for families to even see them throughout their incarceration so why take away the next best thing which is a phone call. The government is so concerned about the value of keeping a family together but do you realize that you are taking away what actually keeps a family together?? It is not fair when families must deal with not being able to talk to their loved ones because of blocks placed on their lines because they cannot afford to pay the HIGH RIDICULOUS rates. How can MCI try to profit from these collect calls?? MCI profits about $76 million per year just off of collect calls from correctional facilities. It is not fair and we are not going to be double-billed for New York State's or any other states' expenses! We should not be bullied into submission to a monopoly that we don't support and damages our family relationships!

We want:
-An end to the monopoly contract
-Fair and equitable rates
-A voice in prison telephone decision-making
-A choice of service provider
-To preserve safe and adequate family-based programming

We don't want:
-Abusively high rates
-Threats of disciplinary time served in Special Housing Units (SHU, or "the box) for using remote call-forwarding and other alternative service providers
-Blocks on our telephone service
-To pay the Department of Corrections (DOCs) bills
-Loss of Inmate/Family Services.