The Golden State, California, has just inched closer to approving the ban of cell phones in prisons there. The state’s Public Safety Committee has just approved a new bill which intends to crack down on the smuggling of cell phones (we would say that smartphones also fall under that category) into the state’s prisons. This new law will include tough penalties for smugglers as well as inmates, where current law does not provide any criminal or financial sanctions when it comes to the smuggling of cell phones to inmates. Currently, violent inmates who own cell phones are definitely a clear and present threat to public safety, so such a device in the wrong hands would be ill advised. The proposed bill will see the person who possesses a cell phone with the intent to deliver, or delivers, to an inmate would be guilty of a misdemeanor, where the guilty party could be punished by up to six months in jail as well as a fine of up to $5,000 per device. To top that, the offending inmate will also be subjected to a loss of time credits that are not eligible for restoration.
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