Contraband

Movement to jam cell phones in prison grows

Momentum to give states the right to jam contraband cell phones in prisons continues to grow.

Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Gov. Joe Manchin of West Virginia are two of 20 governors who have signed a letter to support legislation in Congress to allow the jamming.

A Senate committee already has approved the legislation. A full Senate vote may come this fall.

Cell phone use among prisoners has been on the rise in recent years, despite the fact inmates are not supposed to have phones. Maryland corrections officers confiscated 947 cell phones in 2008 by using specially trained dogs and other security measures. That is a 71 percent increase in confiscations compared to 2006.

Earlier this year, a Baltimore drug dealers was sentenced to life without parole for his jail cell phone use. He used a cell phone in the Baltimore City jail to plan the killing of a witness.

The Federal Communications Commission has never given a state permission to jam cell phones. To rectify that, Congress is considering changing the law to circumvent the FCC’s stance.

Other governors joining O’Malley and Manchin in asking that the legislation be enacted are the governors of South Dakota, South Carolina, Kansas, Oregon, Kentucky, North Dakota, Mississippi, Iowa, Nevada, Utah, Louisiana, Illinois, Alabama, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, California and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Inmate possession of cell phones is too serious to be allowed to continue. The phones are being used to arrange drug deals, arrange for contraband and — even worse — plan murders. We urge both bodies of Congress to enact the jamming permission bill.