On the recordJuly 20, 2010
The use of illegal cell phones by prisoners is on the rise. In California, for example, news stories report that the number of cell phones confiscated in prisons doubled from 2007 to 2008. In 2008, over 2,800 cell phones were found in California, but more than 2,800 were found just in the first 6 months of 2009. The Alabama Department of Corrections found more than 3,000 cell phones in 2009. In fact, there were more cell phones than any other type of contraband found in all of Alabama prisons. Other State prison systems are experiencing the same increase in the number of contraband cell phones. As a result, many States are considering legislation that specifically prohibits prisoners from possessing cell phones in State prisons. S. 1749 takes a step in the same direction at the Federal level. S. 1749, the Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010, does two things. First, the bill makes it a crime for Federal prisoners to possess cell phones. Second, the bill directs the GAO to study the cost and use of landlines and smuggled cell phones in Federal and selected State prisons and jails. This legislation is timely. Inmates use smuggled cell phones to coordinate drug deals on the outside, also, gang violence and other crimes, all committed outside the prison by use of smuggled cell phones to coordinate this activity that are used in the prison system.
