Inmate Calls Are Blocked, And So Are Some Outside The Jail Walls

I wasn’t planning on testing the state’s new cell phone blocking technology unveiled Friday by Gov. Martin O’Malley at the Baltimore City jail. But a blown-out tire on East Madison Street across the street from back of the jail made me do it.

At the news conference, O’Malley insisted the system wasn’t “blocking” authorized use outside the antique facility where the inmates ran the joint until recently. It just “manages access.”

The press release from the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services says:

“Unlike cell phone ‘jamming,’ Managed Access does not interfere with calls made from outside the prison walls, and thus does not violate federal law. It also does not interfere with emergency calls made from any cell phone.”
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