Might prison-friendly cell phones be a wiser response to contraband phones smuggled behind bars?

The question in the title of this post is prompted by this new item from the Washington Post, which is headlined "Illegal cellphone use by federal prisoners on the rise." Here is the back-story:

The number of cellphones smuggled into federal prisons has more than tripled in the past three years, posing a growing security risk, according to a new report.  Federal law prohibits the use of cellphones by federal inmates, but the Federal Bureau of Prisons seized 8,656 cellphones from inmates in 2010, up from 1,774 in 2008, according to the report by the Government Accountability Office. More than three-quarters of the phones seized were from minimum-security prisons....

The growing use of cellphones makes it harder for prison officials to track calls made by inmates — in some cases allowing them to continue committing crimes, GAO said.  In one case, a federal inmate used a contraband cellphone behind bars to operate an identity-theft ring that rang up more than $254,000 worth of fraudulent credit card charges.  The inmate is now serving an additional 14 years in prison.

Prison officials are using X-ray machines and metal detectors to screen visitors and catch cellphones and other contraband — but some still slip through.  In hopes of stopping the smuggling, BOP is testing new technologies — including hand-held cellphone tracking devices — to detect mobile phones.  But the agency hasn’t established a way to determine whether the tests are working, GAO said.

Contraband cellphones are also common in state prisons: The GAO found that California prison officials seized 10,700 cellphones from inmates in 2010 — up considerably from about 900 in 2007.  The Maryland state prison system confiscated 1,128 phones in 2010, up from 741 in 2007.

Prison officials cited in the report said inmates are also seeking out cellphones to avoid paying local and long-distance telephone rates on prison-operated phones.  Most federal inmates are allowed to make 15-minute calls to family and friends, but the privilege is revoked if prison officials suspect an inmate is using call time inappropriately.

The BOP charges six cents per minute for local calls and 23 cents per minute for long distance. Revenues from the calls totaled $74 million in 2010 and are used to pay for prison amenities, including psychology, reading and arts programs and recreational activities, GAO said.  Though BOP’s per-minute call rates are lower than military prisons and most state facilities, GAO said that lowering the rates might compel inmates to stop seeking out contraband cellphones.

The full GAO report  on this issue, which has the thrilling title of " Improved Evaluations and Increased Coordination Could Improve Cell Phone Detection," can be accessed in full at this link.  Among interesting parts of the report is this account of the current federal effort to combat this cell phone problem via a new federal criminal law:

In August 2010, the Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010 was passed and amended 18 U.S.C. § 1791 to prohibit an inmate of a prison from possessing, obtaining, or attempting to obtain a cell phone.  The Cell Phone Contraband Act also provided for punishing such possession with a fine or imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or both.  BOP stated that cell phones are considered hazardous tools, as defined by BOP policy as tools most likely to be used in an escape attempt or to serve as weapons capable of doing serious bodily harm to others; or those hazardous to institutional security or personal safety.  According to officials in BOP’s Correctional Programs Division, when an inmate is caught with a cell phone, an incident report is filed and the inmate is subject to BOP’s disciplinary process, which involves an administrative hearing.  The inmate ultimately could face a range of sanctions from transfer to a higher-security institution to loss of “good time” or other privileges.  BOP may refer the case to a law enforcement agency with criminal investigative authority for investigation, and/or to the local U.S. Attorney’s Office, which maintains discretion for prosecution.

Though I fully understand the problems that contraband cell phones can pose in prisons, I do not understand why anyone would be confident that this new federal criminal law would be likely to be effective at addressing these problems (or would even ever get seriously enforced by federal prosecutors).

As the title of my post hints, I think trying to provide inmates with controlled and closely monitored access to a prison-friendly cell phone may be a much more effective way to deal with a problem that seem likely to get even more profound if and when smart-phones and tablets and other small electronics become even cheaper and easier to pass to inmates who may just want no more than a cheap and easy way to keep up with the outside world.