Cut off prisoners' cell phones

Prisoners have no business with cell phones, but many manage to get them -- illegally. So it is good news that the U.S. Senate last week unanimously approved legislation that could render those contraband phones useless. The House should pass the measure into law.

Jon Ozmint, head of the S.C. Department of Corrections, told us that, if approved, systems to jam cell phone calls in prisons should be functioning in two years. At least 34 states, including South Carolina, have petitioned to use the new technology.

Mr. Ozmint, who has been working on the issue for three years, had hoped for a more straightforward bill with less time-consuming red tape (inserted under pressure from the wireless phone industry). Mr. Ozmint said some 1,000 pre-paid cell phones are confiscated every year in South Carolina's prisons.

The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the phone industry, has dragged its feet on jamming illegal prison calls despite compelling information about prisoners across the country using contraband cell phones to coordinate criminal activity from their cells.

Prison officials have documented calls by inmates to arrange for delivery of drugs and weapons, to plan escapes and one even to orchestrate the death of a hostile witness.

In addition, jamming technology is already used by federal agencies in Washington, D.C. When the jamming technology was new, it sometimes interfered with cell phone use outside the prison, Mr. Ozmint said. But demonstrations have shown that new technology doesn't do that, and the bill requires prisons to shut down their systems if that happens.

Mr. Ozmint estimates that a jamming system for Lieber prison, for example, would cost $250,000 at today's prices. Unfortunately, the cost to the state will likely grow in two years.

South Carolina has taken the lead in stopping prisoners from using contraband cell phones: Jim DeMint is a sponsor of the bill that passed the Senate, and Mr. Ozmint has worked to raise awareness about the problem around the nation.

If the House follows the Senate's lead, state lawmakers will then face the task of finding money to install jamming technology in its prisons. The security gains say it's worth the effort.