New bill aims to stop cell phone smuggling in prison

February 4, 2011 By Jeffrey Van Camp

A lawmaker in California is trying to make it illegal for inmates to be caught using cell phones and a misdemeanor offense to those who try to smuggle cell phones into state prisons as the number of seized phones continues to rise.

Prisoners should face steeper penalties if they are caught with a cell phone, says one California lawmaker. State Sen. Alex Padilla plans to introduce a bill (Senate Bill 26) in the coming weeks that would add 2-5 years onto the sentence of inmates in state prisons if they are caught using the phone “to facilitate a crime.” The bill would also make smuggling a cell phone to an inmate a misdemeanor for guards and visitors, with a $5,000 maximum fine.

This announcement comes a day after reports that Charles Manson, a mass murderer from the 60s, was caught with a cell phone under his mattress. This is the second time in two years that Manson has been caught with a phone. More than 10,000 cell phones were discovered in California prisons 2010 alone, and the number keeps rising. In 2007, only 1,400 such devices were seized.

Inmates pay as much as $1,000 for a working device obtaining phones from corrupt guards and visitors. One guard made as much as $150,000 a year smuggling phones, reports the LA Times. Though that inmate lost his job, he was not charged with a crime. Under current state law, it is not illegal to bring cell phones into prison, though it is against prison rules.

Last August, President Obama signed a bill banning cell phones from federal prisons, making the act of smuggling an offense punishable by up to a year in jail (hopefully with no cell phone). Sadly, the law does not affect state prisons. Sen. Padilla introduced bills to eliminate cellphones in 2009 and 2007 as well, but his pleas have not been heard by the California state legislature. Part of the problem: the prison guards union is asking for millions in extra pay for the time it would take to be searched for cell phones and other devices whenever the guards arrive at work.

Showing 1 comment

Malibu1369 at 4:57pm 9th February 2011 While it sounds nice to say the law would add 2-5 years to an inmates time if they commit a crime using a smuggled phone, who will prosecute the crime in an already overcrowded prison and court system. The fact is that this would be just another example of the CDCR using their power to extend an inmate's sentence without due process using administrative punishment. Inmates using cell phones to call family, friends and employers would, under the law, not be prosecuted because they committed no crime using the phone, CDCR is not so forgiving. They always assume guilt and proceed on that presumption. This will just crowd our prisons more, costing me more wasted tax dollars. Can't a legislator use brains in writing a law?