Telephone & WiFi Failure Across Massachusetts Prisons
In December 2023 Governor Maura Healy signed legislation making free telephone calls and email an entitlement for Commonwealth prisoners.
Soon afterward, prison officials allowed Securus Technologies, the approved carrier, to place an app on an Android Tablet which is given free of charge to all Massachusetts Prisoners. This communication resource is a game changer - when it works. Since April 8th, WiFi serving the Securus Technologies App has been down. In addition to the ''cell-phone'', the Tablet provides various education programs, a book library in particular. So, for days prisoners have been unable to make phone calls from their cells or read books downloaded to their tablets. The public may seem confused, or feel prisoners in Massachusetts are coddled. Only, most prisoners in Souza-Baranowski, the states maximum security institution, are locked away for twenty to twenty four hours a day! There is a total eclipse of human rights throughout Massachusetts Prisons. And, technology is quickly replacing humanity. All correction facilities are wired for internet. But, the WiFi network is fragile and spotty. The current WiFi outage is only the most recent example of a technology failing in a system reliant on high tech.