# Why is it so expensive to send a care package to someone in jail? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 29, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-so-expensive-to-send-a-care-package-to-someone-in-jail/747530 "2016-02-29T17:26:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-so-expensive-to-send-a-care-package-to-someone-in-jail/747530/21 "2016-02-29T22:10:50Z")
I used to work for this company that made phone systems for prisons: [http://www.latticeinc.com/products-and-solutions/inmate-telephone-systems/](http://www.latticeinc.com/products-and-solutions/inmate-telephone-systems/) I can tell you that a tremendous amount of modifications had to be made to off-the-shelf phone equipment to go into the prisons, and it was not uncommon for us to lose money on the sale (to beat out competitors for the contract) and then make it up with higher fees for the calls afterwards. It wouldn’t surprise me if the commissary management service industry works the same way, hence the high prices. I’m sure they also have a tremendous inspection process involving X-raying everything to ensure nothing is hidden inside sealed packages as well as some kind of documented process for how it gets from the distributor to the prison to ensure no substitutions either. After all, you don’t want sugar packets being substituted with cocaine inside, right? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-so-expensive-to-send-a-care-package-to-someone-in-jail/747530/22 "2016-02-29T22:14:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I agree with that principle, however these services have been privatized in a monopolistic manner increasing the price. As much as I consider that prisoners have to pay for their cost to society it should not be an inflated cost, and should not profit anyone. Overcharging a captive clientele for basic services is the tip of the iceberg: _The Washington Post_: [“How for-profit prisons have become the biggest lobby no one is talking about”](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become-the-biggest-lobby-no-one-is-talking-about/) _Mother Jones_: [“Here’s the Latest Evidence of How Private Prisons Are Exploiting Inmates for Profit”](http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/06/private-prisons-profit) David Yankovich, _Huffpost Politics_: [“Private Prisons Embrace Corruption to Boost Profits”](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-yankovich/be-careful-private-prison_b_8144860.html) There is an entire industry dedicated to charging more for basic necessities, keeping people in prison longer, and providing no services for any kind of occupational training, mental health evaluation or therapy, or any attempt at rehabilitation. And none of this has anything to do with “paying one’s debt to society”: it is purely about lining the pockets of the companies running these prisons. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-so-expensive-to-send-a-care-package-to-someone-in-jail/747530/23 "2016-03-01T00:07:02Z")
Once sold a book to a guy in prison from my Amazon store. The prison returned it saying that the inmates weren’t allow to receive _hardcover_ books, (paperbacks were alright though). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-so-expensive-to-send-a-care-package-to-someone-in-jail/747530.md?page=1)