This piece was co-published with Inquest .

Jamee Miller was stunned when she first realized just how much it would cost to stay connected to her son during his incarceration. She made weekly prison visits to avoid the high cost of calls. Then, without notice, he was transferred. For weeks, she did not even know where he was. The silence was unbearable.

Eventually, Miller learned that he had been transferred from a state prison in Hawaii to a private prison facility in Arizona. Hawaii is one of a few states that contracts with out-of-state private prisons to house its incarcerated population (though many states routinely engage in more limited swaps and transfers to send individuals to prisons in other states). Suddenly, visiting became nearly impossible. After all, she would have to s

See Full Page