Bill to Keep Cellphones out of Prisons Speeds Through Senate

摘要

The Senate approved the Cellphone Contraband Act without debate. The legislation has nmoved much faster in the Senate than the companion bill is expected to advance in the nHouse. "CTIA and the wireless industry applaud the Senate’s passage of this bill as we nbelieve prisoners should not have access to contraband phones and those who supply them nshould be punished severely," CTIA President Steve Largent said. Inmates "use these nphones to conduct criminal business outside of prison walls 鈥?to direct gang hits, control ndrug trafficking operations and conduct credit card fraud," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said nin January when the bill was in the Senate Commerce Committee. It labels cellphones and nwireless devices as contraband and provides up to a one-year prison sentence for anyone nconvicted of providing a handset to a federal inmate, or trying to.