Human Rights Defense Center
DEDICATED TO PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS

March 29, 2017

SENT VIA EMAIL ONLY

Senator Cory A. Booker
United States Senate
359 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

RE: Support for the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act
Dear Senator Booker:
The Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) has worked to protect the human rights of people
held in detention facilities in the United States for over 26 years, and we are pleased to strongly
support the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act (Act).
As the co-founder of the national Campaign for Prison Phone Justice (www.phonejustice.org),
we have worked with the FCC to regulate the prison telecom industry which has, for far too long,
been allowed to price gouge prisoners and their families for simply wanting to stay in touch. The
Act would require the Bureau of Prisons to provide phone calls at no cost to federal prisoners,
which would reduce the financial burden on their family members.
Additionally, HRDC has tracked the rise of video calling in prisons and jails, which is frequently
provided at high costs and replaces in-person visitation. While we recognize the benefits of video
calling for families unable to travel to correctional facilities for in-person visits, the video option
should not include excessive rates nor should it replace in-person visits. The Act would require
the BOP to provide video calling at no cost, which will facilitate greater communication between
prisoners and their families and children – which, in turn, has been shown to result in better
reentry outcomes for released prisoners and thus lower recidivism rates.
With today’s technology there is no reason why prisoners held by the BOP should be charged
for phone calls or video calling, and HRDC strongly supports the provisions of the Dignity for
Incarcerated Women Act that require these services be provided at no cost, as well as provisions
requiring the BOP to continue in-person visitation and ensure prisoners are housed in facilities
as close to their children as possible, to encourage visits.

P.O. Box 1151
Lake Worth, FL 33460
Phone: 561-360-2523 Fax: 866-735-7136
pwright@prisonlegalnews.org

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The Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act includes many other socially-beneficial provisions that
would improve the lives of federal prisoners and their families – including a ban on shackling
pregnant prisoners, the provision of parenting classes to prisoners, ensuring that prisoners receive
basic hygiene products, and expanding eligibility for substance abuse treatment to prisoners who
are pregnant or were the primary caretakers of minor children.
We also applaud the Act’s establishment of a pilot program for overnight visits from family
members for prisoners who have displayed good behavior, although we believe that such a pilot
program should also be extended to prisoners convicted of a crime of violence (as defined in sec.
16 of title 18 of the U.S. Code) that did not involve their family members.
For the foregoing reasons, among others, HRDC strongly endorses the Dignity for Incarcerated
Women Act.

Sincerely,

Paul Wright
Executive Director, HRDC