Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, issued the following statement in response to Mayor De Blasio signing the passing of New York City Council bill Intro 0741 that would prohibit the City of New York from collecting revenue from phone calls in jail and makes all phone calls made from city jails free.

Rashad Robinson, President at Color Of Change:

“Across the country, the excessive cost of jail phone calls has cut Black and Brown people off from their families for decades. However, today, New York City became the first jurisdiction in the country to makes all phone calls made from city jails free. We applaud Mayor De Blasio, Speaker Corey Johnson, and the rest of the New York City Council for listening to the demands of thousands of Color Of Change members, who refuse to let New York profit off of mass incarceration any longer. New York City currently generates nearly $6 million in revenue from phone calls made from city jails alone. When you consider that 89% of New York City’s jail population is Black or Latino, it’s clear that the city has not only disproportionately imprisoned us but they have actively stripped wealth from our communities.

This bill is a step in the right direction towards putting an end to a system that profits off of mass incarceration. Families in New York City no longer have to face the burden of choosing between phoning their incarcerated loved ones and meeting their basic financial needs. New York has set a strong example today and we hope that other jurisdictions across the country follow suit and pass similar legislation.”