[Bookstoprisoners] IL phone campaign

[Holley K]

There is a link to the IL telephone campaign at illinoisprisontalk.com
  I pay about  $37 for a  30 minute call from IL prisons to MN,  including taxes.  
  I hope you get a sign on the donation box soon so people at least know they are stealing donations!
  Holley Kramer McCree

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Today's Topics:

1. Fwd: We won a major victory for prisoners and their families!
(sara ross)
2. book donation (Niloofar Shambayati)
3. Re: book donation (Niloofar Shambayati)
4. Re: book donation (Danielle Chynoweth)


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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:48:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: sara ross 
Subject: [Bookstoprisoners] Fwd: We won a major victory for prisoners
and their families!
To: books to prisoners 
Message-ID: <448507.17571.qm at web30511.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi All, This is interesting news from NY.

centerforconstitutionalrights


Dear ryan,

I’m writing you today to share an important and exciting CCR victory on behalf of New York State prison inmates and their families and to let you know about today’s New York Times editorial on our success.
Since 1999, CCR has been fighting in the courts and on the ground to end the exploitative telephone contract between the New York State Department of Correctional Services and MCI/Verizon. This year, we won.
For families to stay in touch with their loved ones in prison, they must accept collect calls from a monopoly provider that until recently cost 630 percent more than regular consumer rates. For ten years, New York State took a 57.5 percent kickback commission on the profits.

All the research shows that staying in touch with family and community is the single most important factor in a prisoner’s successful reentry when they get out. Yet more than forty states have a similar policy gouging prison families for profit and, as a result, keeping families apart. After our amazing success this year, New York State will no longer be among them, and we’ll be working to end the practice across the country.

We launched the New York Campaign for Telephone Justice in 2004 after we began to hear from families that they were being forced to choose between putting food on the table and speaking to their loved ones due to monthly phone bills in the hundreds of dollars. Working with prison family organizations like Prison Families of New York, Inc. and Prison Families Community Forum, we coordinated an extensive campaign that involved grassroots organizing, numerous lawsuits, media outreach, and legislative advocacy.
And after three years of tireless work, we won!
In January 2007, newly-elected New York Governor Eliot Spitzer agreed to eliminate the State’s 57.5 percent kickback commission and reduce the prison telephone rates by 50 percent; more savings are due in September.

In June 2007, the New York State Legislature passed our Family Connections Bill and made it law that the State will not profit from any future prison telephone contract and that any future contract instead must “prioritize the lowest cost to the consumer.” (Previous contracts were awarded based on which bid would provide the highest commission for the State.) Last week, Governor Spitzer signed the bill into law.

We’re not finished yet – we continue to fight the legal battle with our case Walton v. NYSDOCS and MCI, which seeks a court judgment that the State’s commission is an illegal and unconstitutional tax. A victory in the case would prevent future legislatures from creating similar contracts and would compensate affected families for the years that they’ve overpaid to remain connected to their loved ones. We argued the most recent round in June and are awaiting a decision.

Due to overwhelming positive response from organizers and prison families in other states, CCR plans to work with grassroots groups across the country to make the Campaign for Telephone Justice a national effort so that all families and inmates receive fair rates and can remain in touch with their loved ones. Stay tuned for more on this exciting new campaign.

Sincerely,

Annette Warren Dickerson
Director of Education and Outreach
Learn More Donate
Center for Constitutional Rights ll 666 Broadway 7th floor NY, NY 10012 ll 212-614-6464 ll www.ccr-ny.org





---------------------------------
Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! 
Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:53:55 -0500
From: "Niloofar Shambayati" 
Subject: [Bookstoprisoners] book donation
To: 
Cc: bookstoprisoners at lists.chambana.net
Message-ID: <00e501c7d0ca$eb627d20$6401a8c0 at SalehiFamily>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Thanks for your generous offer. I can meet you in front of the IMC/Urbana post office at 1:00 p.m. and direct you to the other side of the building where you can park your car . I might be able to find couple of other people to help us carry the boxes to the basement. Please let me know whether this would work for you or not. I look forward to meeting you.

Niloofar
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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 23:41:17 -0500
From: "Niloofar Shambayati" 
Subject: Re: [Bookstoprisoners] book donation
To: "Danielle Chynoweth" 
Cc: bookstoprisoners at lists.chambana.net
Message-ID: <00ff01c7d0d1$898dc3a0$6401a8c0 at SalehiFamily>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi Danielle, 

Thanks for letting me know. All we can do is to empty the bin more frequently. We have encountered similar problems with other locations as well and have come to accept the loss of some potentially good books---c'est la vie.

Niloofar 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Danielle Chynoweth 
To: Niloofar Shambayati 
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 11:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Bookstoprisoners] book donation


hi niloofar,

i notice some folks taking books from the front of the post office when they are in an unmarked bin. the other day a woman asked me if "other things were free in addition to the books" - she didn't even question whether the books were free. 

- Danielle



On 7/27/07, Niloofar Shambayati wrote:
Thanks for your generous offer. I can meet you in front of the IMC/Urbana post office at 1:00 p.m. and direct you to the other side of the building where you can park your car . I might be able to find couple of other people to help us carry the boxes to the basement. Please let me know whether this would work for you or not. I look forward to meeting you.

Niloofar

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Message: 4
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 23:57:44 -0500
From: "Danielle Chynoweth" 
Subject: Re: [Bookstoprisoners] book donation
To: "Niloofar Shambayati" 
Cc: bookstoprisoners at lists.chambana.net
Message-ID:

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I noticed the bins were not there, but plain unmarked cardboard boxes
instead. I would suggest a sign on the wall above the bins (friendly and
decent looking if possible) that explains B2P and the donation bin.
- Danielle

On 7/27/07, Niloofar Shambayati wrote:
>
> Hi Danielle,
>
> Thanks for letting me know. All we can do is to empty the bin more
> frequently. We have encountered similar problems with other locations as
> well and have come to accept the loss of some potentially good books---c'est
> la vie.
>
> Niloofar
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Danielle Chynoweth 
> *To:* Niloofar Shambayati 
> *Sent:* Friday, July 27, 2007 11:06 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [Bookstoprisoners] book donation
>
> hi niloofar,
>
> i notice some folks taking books from the front of the post office when
> they are in an unmarked bin. the other day a woman asked me if "other
> things were free in addition to the books" - she didn't even question
> whether the books were free.
>
> - Danielle
>
>
> On 7/27/07, Niloofar Shambayati wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for your generous offer. I can meet you in front of the
> > IMC/Urbana post office at 1:00 p.m. and direct you to the other side of
> > the building where you can park your car . I might be able to find couple
> > of other people to help us carry the boxes to the basement. Please let me
> > know whether this would work for you or not. I look forward to meeting you.
> >
> > Niloofar
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > BooksToPrisoners mailing list
> > BooksToPrisoners at lists.chambana.net
> > http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/bookstoprisoners
> >
> >
>
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End of BooksToPrisoners Digest, Vol 26, Issue 14
************************************************


       
---------------------------------
Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! 
Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.
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