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The F.O.C.I.S. Paralegal & Advocacy Group
Exposing Corruption in C.J.S and D.O.C.C.S Since 2003 !
A Subsidiary of Madison Avenue Entertainment Group
P.O. Box 824
Buffalo N.Y. 14215
518 - 400 - 0917
TheMAEGMovement@Gmail.com
FocisParalegalAndAdvocacy@Gmail.com
www.TheFocisMovement.com
www.MadisonAvenueEntertainmentGroup.com

Effective : Immediately

Attention : Members of our Prison Support Groups

Subject : Working together on issues that affect us all !

Reason : Investigating Wi-Fi Phone & Email Access for General Population
Prisoners in New York State.

Dear : Members of our Prison Support Groups,


THE INTRODUCTION :

The F.O.C.I.S. Movement is an independent grassroots organization that aims to shed light and expose the injustices that exist within our Criminal Justice System and Department of Corrections. Its acronym stands for Families Oppressed by the Criminal Injustice System and its members consist of prisoners, former prisoners and family members of prisoners, lawyers, law students, paralegals, activists, advocates, social media influencers, Hip-Hop and R&B artists, actors, as well as many other individuals and organizations that seek prison and criminal justice reform. Initially, our strategy is to attempt to reach out to government officials with our findings on a particular subject(s) and request changes in policy, sanctions, disciplinary actions and / or removals from office before moving on to civil action, media exposure, peaceful protests, etc... Therefore, we are reaching out to you regarding our movement to get the Department of Corrections to install Wi-Fi Phone & Email Access for General Population Prisoners in New York State. :

THE PROBLEM:

In this memo we will address the issue of WIFI Phone & Email Access for General Population Prisoners in New York State. At the time of this writing, phone access for most prisoners is extremely limited in New York facilities. Members of New York Prison Support Groups on all social media platforms are reporting that their loved ones incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility are only allowed to use the phone to call home for 15 minutes a day, (every other day.) Clinton and Auburn Correctional Facilities are reporting even less phone access, and that's when their incarcerated loved ones are actually lucky enough to make it to the yard to use the phone, as correctional officers’ line the hallways looking for prisoners to stop, search and find any excuse to deny them access to the yard.

Access to the Jpay kiosk to send and receive emails to family members is even more limited. Although State regulations grants prisoners the ability to access the kiosk once a day, for 15 minutes a day, most facilities take advantage of another sentence in the regulations that gives DOCCS officials discretion to limit access to the kiosk for
"operational reasons." Even more, according to the guidelines, DOCCS officials can withhold emails (with attachments) to and from prisoners for up to five days while they undergo content screening, but prisoners
(especially those housed at Auburn Correctional Facility ) report that it can take weeks or even months to receive messages from family members and that’s in a best case scenario because most times the kiosks are broken and can take months before DOCCS repairs them.

These unnecessary limitations and restrictions put in place by DOCCS officials statewide violates a prisoners due process rights to use the phone for at least 30 minutes a day as mandated in Directive 4423 (III) (B) and his / her due process rights to use the kiosk for 15 minutes per day to send and receive message as mandated by

 Directive 4425 (IV) (A) (2). DOCCS has long been in violation of both of these regulations
but has done nothing to correct it.

A majority of the violence in prison stems from the lack of access to the phone. Whether its correctional officers abusing their authority over the phone and creating ways to stop prisoners from using it; to aggressive prisoners taking advantage of the more vulnerable population by forcing them to give up their phone time; to a prisoner that simply refuses to get off the phone when his / her time is up; or a prisoner who chooses not to
go to the yard to avoid the violence and negativity that happens there, all of these instances that take place on a daily basis in prison lead to even more violence somewhere down the line. Even more, and to INTENTIONALLY make matters substantially more dangerous, in the past few years DOCCS installed metal cages in every Maximum Facility prison yard (the most dangerous prison yards) in which15 prisoners at a time are locked in the cages unsupervised, with no security, to use the phone. Needless to say, we have reports where prisoners have been stabbed, raped, robbed, assaulted, and held at knife point until their families agree to send cash app transactions. (We cannot even begin to imagine who in DOCCS thought it would be a good idea locking violent prisoners in a cage, together, unattended? )

THE SOLUTION:

The simple solution to all of this unnecessary madness and violence is allowing Wi-Fi Phone & Email Access for General Population Prisoners in New York State! Wi-fi is already installed in almost every other State that allows Jpay to operate within its prison system. It's also in every New York County jail, but as far as New York State prisons, its currently only available to inmates in the RRU program in solitary confinement. (Important Side Note: The fact that prisoners in solitary confinement have up to six hours of phone time per day because of the Wi-Fi accessibility has created an incentive for prisoners in population to commit acts of violence just to be placed in solitary confinement so that they can use the phone. Again, we find this manipulative ploy by DOCCS to be intentional in order to keep the level of violence high in the prisons so as to justify the need for more correctional officers. )

If Wi-Fi were available to general population prisoners, they would not have to go to the yard to use the phone and they would not have to go to the kiosk to send and receive messages to family. They can make calls and send / receive emails directly from their JPay tablet (without ever having to leave their cell) over an internal secure wireless transmitter, just like the Wi-Fi system you have at home. DOCCS officials and the Correctional Officers Union (NYSCOBA) have yet to install Wi-Fi in New York State prisons in fear that prisoners would not go to the yard anymore which, in turn, would lead to officers being laid off because the facilities wouldn't need the security, they once required to secure the massive prison yards in each prison.

THE CALL TO ACTION:

The importance of the Wi-Fi system in New York State prisons cannot be more apparent. Prisoners need access to their family members to strengthen and maintain family ties with their minor children and, more importantly, to keep outsiders informed of any abuses or harassment they may be facing on the inside. Being able to dial # 444 to speak to an OSI investigator is also vital immediately after a violent altercation with staff members so that pertinent information can be relayed before its forgotten. The ability to electronically purchase commissary and file grievances through the Wi-Fi system is another important necessity because it eliminates the possibility of the grievance supervisors and commissary staff claiming that they did not get an inmate’s grievance or commissary buy sheet that prisoners must, for now, send through the mail. In order to assist us in getting Wi-Fi Phone & Email Access For General Population Prisoners In New York State, we kindly ask that you help us by following the below instructions:

# 1. Hit the below social media icons that allow you to share, like, repost, and / or forward this page to help get the word out to your followers and friends about this issue. Also, post a comment below about this issue because we would like to know your opinions, thoughts and suggestions on this matter, as well as any ideas you may have to help bring more attention to this situation.

# 2. Hit the button below to forward a copy of this memo to Governor Kathy Hochul, DOCCS Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, The Commission on Corrections, The Correctional Association of New York, The New York Civil Liberties Union, The Urban Justice Center and other organizations, but most importantly, please attach a comment in the comment box explaining why you support Wi-Fi Phone & Email Access for General Population Prisoners in New York State.

In closing, The F.O.C.I.S. Movement is always investigating internal corruption within the Department of Corrections and the Criminal Justice System so if you have an issue that you would like us to consider, please feel free to contact us with the information listed below.

Sincerely,

The F.O.C.I.S. Paralegal & Advocacy Group
Contact : Paralegal Assistant Posha Jenson

The F.O.C.I.S. Movement is an independent grassroots organization that seeks change in the Criminal Justice System and the Department of Corrections. Learn what you can do to assist us in reforming the penal
system! Join us at www.TheFOCISMovement.com, call / text us at 518 -
400 - 0917 or email us at FocisParalegalAndAdvocacy@Gmail.com. We
look forward to hearing from you!

Cc: The Correctional Association, The New York City Liberties Union, The Prisoners’ Rights Association, Prison Legal News, Solitary Watch, Urban Justice Center, The Marshall Project, Prisoners Legal Services, Victoria
Law, Scott Paltrowitz, Victor Pate, Alison Coleman, Claudette Spencer, Jack Beck, Marco Barrios.