California is cracking down on contraband cell phones in prisons, which authorities say are used to plot crimes outside prison walls.
Gov. Jerry Brown announced he signed a bill making it a misdemeanor to smuggle or possess unauthorized cell phones in prisons. He also ordered an executive order requiring additional phone searches for people entering prisons.
It is SB 26 by Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of Los Angeles. Brown said it will help “break up an expanding criminal network” that uses contraband cell phones to organize crime from behind bars. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has reported about 11,000 phones were confiscated within its institutions last year.
There will be up to 180 days good time credit loss for an inmate caught with a cell phone plus the possibility of facing prosecution.