San Mateo County Jail Class Action Says Inmates Overcharged for Calls

A class action lawsuit alleges that the County of San Mateo in California has taken advantage of inmates in county jails by allowing telephone providers GTL and Securus to overcharge for telephone calls from inmates.

“San Mateo County runs one of the largest jails in the US, and essentially extorts monies from mostly poor and minority families trying to get by and stay in contact with loved ones,” the class action claims.

The class action lawsuit asserts that the County of San Mateo “entered into exclusive contracts” first with Global Tel Link (GTL), and then Securus Technologies, Inc.

According to the lawsuit, each company pays a substantial annual fee, called “commissions,” of between $620,000 and $820,000 to the County for exclusive rights to provide telephone services for the county jails.

The complaint contends that both companies had to earn that money back by charging “unnecessary and unconscionable fees and charges on accounts used for inmate telephone calls.”

The class action argues that the commissions to the County are actually a kickback scheme where the County profits from the unlawful fees imposed on inmates and their families.

Plaintiff Alfred Banks states that he is an inmate in Maguire Correctional Facility in San Mateo County. His wife, plaintiff Shirley Lawrence Banks, asserts that she pays between $300 and $350 a month in phone charges to talk with Mr. Banks.

Mrs. Banks states these charges have created a significant burden on her, and she has ended her retirement and started working at Walmart to cover the costs.

The class action notes that between 2007 and 2010, the California state prison system phased out its commission system for its prison phone lines. Now, calls cost substantially less for inmates and their families, according to the complaint.

The class action states that a 15-minute phone call now costs 61 percent less than it did when the state prison system received commissions, and argues that the state prison system “provides a stark contrast” to the system still used by San Mateo County.

The San Mateo County excessive jail phone charges class action lawsuit claims that this commissions scheme deprives inmates and their families of their First Amendment right to associate with each other, and subjects them to unlawful fees by the government in violation of the Fifth Amendment.

The complaint also argues that the exclusive contract with an Inmate Calling System provider such as GTC or Securus violates antitrust laws.

Finally, the class action contends that the jail telephone fees are illegal under California law because they constitute an unlawful tax, and they “have an unlawful disparate impact on African-Americans and Latinos.”

The lawsuit requests certification of a Class of all inmates of a San Mateo County Jail, as well as all call recipients, “i.e., inmates’ family, friends, bailbondsmen, legal counsel, or others” who paid phone charges or fees for the Inmate Calling System.

The complaint also requests to certify a subclass of all African-American or Latino inmates and their call recipients for the disparate impact claim.

The class action seeks restitution of the unlawful charges, as well as an injunction preventing San Mateo County from continuing its contracts for commissions on jail telephone systems.

The Banks are represented by Barrett S. Litt and Ronald O. Kaye of Kaye, McLane, Bednarski & Litt, LLP; Michael S. Rapkin and Scott B. Rapkin of Rapkin & Associates, LLP; and Carol Strickman of Legal Services for Prisoners With Children.

The San Mateo County Unlawful Jail Phone Charges Class Action Lawsuit is Alfred Banks, et al. v. County of San Mateo, Case No. 3:16-cv-04455, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.