ALBANY - Families who've had to pay high phone rates to talk to loved ones in state prison can proceed with their lawsuit seeking refunds, the state's highest court ruled Tuesday.
The suit, first brought by the inmates' families in 2004, was dismissed by two lower courts that ruled the action was not filed on time.
In a 4-2 decision, the Court of Appeals disagreed and said the lawsuit should be allowed to go forward. It sent the case back to state Supreme Court in Albany.
Defense organizations and relatives of inmates argued before the court last month that the state had illegally collected millions of dollars through a prison telephone service contract. They said the state's contract with Verizon Communications Inc. was unconstitutional and violated state business law. The suit also seeks to prevent similar arrangements from being made by the state in the future.
The state has reaped about $200 million since 1996, when it first entered into an exclusive contract for prison phone service with MCI Worldcom Communications, according to the Department of Correctional Services. The contract was taken over by Verizon last year.
The contract was amended in 2003 to set a new flat rate for calls - $3 per call plus 16 cents per minute for all calls, most of them from upstate prisons to relatives in the New York City area.
With the average 19-minute call costing $6, families were paying $300 to $400 in monthly charges, according to the New York Campaign for Telephone Justice.
Rachel Meeropol, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights representing prisoners' families, said families across the state could be eligible to recoup up to $75 million because the state has collected $20 million to $25 million a year from the fees since the suit was filed in 2004.
“We are seeking to certify this as a class action, so everyone in New York state who has accepted calls from prisoners would get their money back” if the suit is successful, she said. “Since there are about 60,000 prisoners in New York, we're talking about a huge number of people.”
Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Linda Foglia declined comment on the ruling, citing the pending litigation.
Last month, Gov. Eliot Spitzer ordered elimination of the $3 surcharge on collect calls made by prisoners as of April 1. The change should reduce most families' bills by 50 percent or more, Spitzer's office said.
However, advocates for the prisoners' families say those receiving the calls will still be paying rates much higher than what average consumers pay.
A spokesman for the governor did not immediately return a call for comment.
In a 4-2 decision, the Court of Appeals disagreed and said the lawsuit should be allowed to go forward. It sent the case back to state Supreme Court in Albany.
Defense organizations and relatives of inmates argued before the court last month that the state had illegally collected millions of dollars through a prison telephone service contract. They said the state's contract with Verizon Communications Inc. was unconstitutional and violated state business law. The suit also seeks to prevent similar arrangements from being made by the state in the future.
The state has reaped about $200 million since 1996, when it first entered into an exclusive contract for prison phone service with MCI Worldcom Communications, according to the Department of Correctional Services. The contract was taken over by Verizon last year.
The contract was amended in 2003 to set a new flat rate for calls - $3 per call plus 16 cents per minute for all calls, most of them from upstate prisons to relatives in the New York City area.
With the average 19-minute call costing $6, families were paying $300 to $400 in monthly charges, according to the New York Campaign for Telephone Justice.
Rachel Meeropol, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights representing prisoners' families, said families across the state could be eligible to recoup up to $75 million because the state has collected $20 million to $25 million a year from the fees since the suit was filed in 2004.
“We are seeking to certify this as a class action, so everyone in New York state who has accepted calls from prisoners would get their money back” if the suit is successful, she said. “Since there are about 60,000 prisoners in New York, we're talking about a huge number of people.”
Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Linda Foglia declined comment on the ruling, citing the pending litigation.
Last month, Gov. Eliot Spitzer ordered elimination of the $3 surcharge on collect calls made by prisoners as of April 1. The change should reduce most families' bills by 50 percent or more, Spitzer's office said.
However, advocates for the prisoners' families say those receiving the calls will still be paying rates much higher than what average consumers pay.
A spokesman for the governor did not immediately return a call for comment.
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