Senate Panel Probes Prison Cell Bill
The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday will hear perspectives on a proposal by ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison to ban inmates in some prisons from using smuggled cellular phones. Her legislation and a companion bill introduced by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, would allow the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a governor or a governor's designee to petition the FCC for a wireless jamming device in a particular correctional facility. Under the measures, which were introduced in January, the FCC would have to consider whether the jammer would interfere with emergency or public safety communications outside the prison's walls. Current law prevents interference with wireless services.
According to news reports in Texas, death row inmate Richard Tabler used a smuggled phone to make threatening calls to a state senator. Tabler's phone was found in the ceiling above a shower and officers found 11 additional phones belonging to other death row inmates while looking for it. "This legislation will fight criminal enterprises behind bars and protect innocent victims and public officials from harassment and threats from criminals," Hutchison said in press release. Corrections officials have reported a surge in phones infiltrating prisons and in some states, the number confiscated phones has doubled in two years.
A day ahead of the hearing, nine watchdog groups wrote to the committee arguing the legislation would do more harm than good. "Jamming prison cell phones would jeopardize public safety because there is no way to jam only phones used by prisoners. All wireless communications could be shut down within a prison," said Public Knowledge's Harold Feld. "Jamming won't work. You can beat jammers with a few pieces of tin foil." Spectrum experts have explained jamming contraband signals without jamming authorized communications presents an engineering challenge since cell phone signals use many bands, often proximate to or shared with public safety operations.
As alternatives, the groups suggested beefing up prison security to ensure inmates don't get phones and making certain that phone rates for prisoners are reasonable. Witnesses at the hearing include Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., Democratic Texas State Sen. John Whitmire; Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International President-Elect Richard Mirgon; Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Gary Maynard; CTIA - The Wireless Association CEO Steve Largent; and Texas Department of Criminal Justice Inspector General John Moriarty.
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