Update, 1/3/2026
Phone fixes are in progress at St. Louis, but Newberry Correctional is also experiencing similar phone issues, leading me to believe this is either an infrastructure problem across the state, or a problem with GTL. More as it develops.
A System That Breaks Connection on Purpose
There are few things more destabilizing than waiting to hear from someone you love, only to have the line go dead again and again. Not because of misconduct. Not because of rule violations. Not because of security emergencies. But just because the system does not work and staff refuse to fix it.
Across Michigan prisons, families are reporting the same upsetting patterns. Calls that disconnect after a few minutes. Long waits in freezing weather for limited phone access. Repeated failures during holidays and medical crises. No explanation. No remedy. And zero safe way to complain without fear of retaliation.
The most recent and appalling example is occurring at Central Level 1 at St Louis Correctional Facility (SLF). For many families, the phones cut off every single time they answer a loved one’s call.
This is not an inconvenience. It is punishment by neglect.
Communication Is Not a Luxury When Lives Are at Stake
The Michigan Department of Corrections maintains a policy directive governing prisoner telephone use. On paper, it acknowledges that phone access must be provided, maintained, and reasonably available within set hours, subject to legitimate security needs.
In practice, families experience something very different.
They describe loved ones waiting 45 minutes to over an hour for a chance to call, literally wasting time in lines just for human connection. They describe calls cutting off repeatedly after only a few minutes of connection. They describe trying to share urgent medical information, test results, and family updates, only to be abruptly silenced by system failure.
When communication breaks down this regularly, this consistently, it stops being a technical issue and becomes an institutional one.
What is truly perplexing, is that Michigan DOC has had initiatives in progress to update wi-fi infrastructure and allow incarcerated individuals to make calls from their tablets; no more waiting in line. Yet the infrastructure upgrades never seem to come.
The Hidden Cost of Silence
Phone access in prison is often framed as a “privilege” or a leisure activity. That framing collapses under scrutiny when you consider that phone calls are how incarcerated people:
- Learn about serious illnesses in their families
- Maintain parental relationships
- Coordinate legal matters
- Preserve mental stability in isolating conditions
Cutting off that access without justification destabilizes families who are already carrying the overwhelming weight of incarceration. It turns uncertainty into fear and delay into harm.
When a system repeatedly interrupts communication during moments of medical urgency, it inflicts emotional distress not only on the incarcerated person, but on spouses, parents, and children on the outside.
Fear of Retaliation Is Part of the Design
One of the most troubling aspects of these reports is what families do not do. They cannot complain directly to wardens. They do not file formal grievances. They do not attach their names to requests for help.
Why? Because experience has taught them that speaking up often makes things worse.
Incarcerated people live in environments where access to basic necessities can be quietly restricted. Families know this. They weigh the risk. And many choose silence over retaliation.
A system that relies on fear to suppress reporting is not accountable. It is insulated.
Outsourcing Responsibility Does Not Eliminate It
Families are frequently redirected to private telecom providers when phone systems fail. They are told to call customer service lines. They are told the issue is outside the facility’s control. But the responsibility for functional communication does not disappear simply because a service is outsourced.
If a system contracts for phone access, it remains responsible for ensuring that access works. If failures persist, responsibility lies with the institution that tolerates them.
Deflecting blame does not fix the problem. It only ensures it continues.
Holidays, Hardship, and Institutional Indifference
System failures are not evenly distributed. They hit hardest during holidays, during medical emergencies, and during moments when connection matters most. That timing is not accidental. It is the predictable outcome of under-maintenance, understaffing, and indifference to family impact.
The cruelty here is quiet. No disciplinary ticket is written. No rule is formally broken. But the harm is real and cumulative.
This Is a Policy Failure, Not a Personal One
No individual needs to be named to understand what is happening. When phone systems repeatedly fail, when families are outright terrified to report problems, and when no transparent remedy exists, the issue is hands down structural.
Communication is not a perk. It is a stabilizing force. When it is denied or disrupted without cause, it becomes another way the system punishes people who were never sentenced.
What Accountability Would Look Like
Accountability does not require grand reform. It requires basics:
- Transparent reporting of phone outages and failures
- Clear, retaliation-free complaint channels for families
- Timely maintenance and verification of phone systems
- Oversight when contractors fail to meet obligations
Until those safeguards exist, families will continue to absorb harm quietly, and the system will continue to claim ignorance.
The Line Should Not Go Dead
People inside prison walls are still connected to people outside them. Cutting those connections does not create safety. It creates suffering. When the line keeps going dead, it tells families exactly where they stand.
And that message should concern everyone.
Call to Action: Speak Up Together
Families should not have to suffer in silence to avoid retaliation.
If prison phone systems are failing, if calls are being cut short without explanation, or if access is effectively denied during critical moments, it is time to document and escalate those failures collectively.
Clutch urges family members to:
- Write to state legislators responsible for corrections oversight
- Contact prison leadership and MDOC administration in writing
- Demand transparency around phone outages, maintenance, and accountability
- Insist on retaliation-free reporting channels for families and incarcerated people
Individual voices are easy to ignore. Coordinated, documented concerns are not.
Communication is not a luxury. It is a stabilizing necessity for families, children, and public safety. Systems that break connection without cause must be challenged, documented, and fixed.
Silence protects dysfunction. Collective action creates accountability.
Sources
- Michigan Department of Corrections, Policy Directive 05.03.130, Prisoner Telephone Use
- Michigan Department of Corrections public policy materials on prisoner communication access
- Family correspondence and anonymized reports reviewed by Clutch Justice
