US EditionSC AG Warns of Growing Threat of Organized Crime Behind Bars
SOUTH CAROLINA, JUL 9 – South Carolina officials say contraband cellphones enable inmates to run organized crime and call for FCC approval to jam illegal communications to improve prison security.
- In July 2025, a state grand jury report was released highlighting that organized crime driven by illegal cellphones remains a significant issue within South Carolina’s prisons, persisting despite reforms and substantial financial investments.
- Federal law currently bans cell phone jamming in state prisons but allows it in federal facilities, limiting South Carolina's ability to stop inmates from continuing criminal enterprises behind bars.
- Officials describe the current interdiction system used in six state prisons as costly and ineffective compared to jamming technology, which can selectively target contraband phones without affecting staff.
- Attorney General Wilson stressed that imprisoning offenders does not enhance public safety if they continue to operate criminal networks from within prison, while Arkansas AG Griffin stated that jamming these illicit cell phones is the key to addressing the issue.
- The report and officials urge Congress and the FCC to change regulations to permit states to use jamming technology, aiming to disrupt prison-based criminal networks and enhance public safety.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Griffin, Cotton push to allow cell phone jamming in prisons
Inmates are using contraband cell phones to coordinate criminal activity inside and outside of prisons, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said Friday, as he pushed for federal legislation allowing states to jam the devices inside correctional facilities.
Griffin, Cotton push to allow cell phone jamming in prisons | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Inmates are using contraband cell phones to coordinate criminal activity inside and outside of prisons, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said Friday, as he pushed for federal legislation allowing states to jam the devices inside correctional facilities.
SC AG Warns of Growing Threat of Organized Crime Behind Bars
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson held a press conference with law enforcement on Tuesday about an escalating public safety crisis: organized crime being run from within state prisons, all with the help of contraband cellphones. The warning follows a very rare release of grand jury reports from both the 34th and 35th state grand juries, outlining how inmates are continuing their criminal activity from behind bar…
SC grand juries join calls to allow cellphone signal jamming in state prisons • SC Daily Gazette
Around 1,500 cellphones sit on a table outside Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, exemplifying a problem two state grand juries called to end in July 2025. (Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)COLUMBIA — Federal officials must take action to allow cellphone jamming in prisons, state grand juries said in a pair of reports published Wednesday, pointing to the number of cases involving inmates using cellphones to …
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 57% of the sources are Center
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
