Prosecutors to Congress: Let state prisons jam cellphones

By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Top state prosecutors are urging Congress to pass legislation allowing state prisons to jam signals of cellphones smuggled to inmates. The 22 attorneys general say in a letter Wednesday to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that the devices allow prisoners to plot violence and carry out crimes. The letter cites a handful of criminal incidents the attorneys say were orchestrated by inmates using contraband cellphones, including a deadly 2018 South Carolina prison riot in which seven inmates were killed. Prosecutors want a change in a nearly century-old federal communications law that currently prevents state prisons from using jamming technology. Federal prisons can jam signals behind bars, although none do.