Official Bill Info

• Latest Action: Oct 19, 2009 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

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• Committee Assignment: Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation

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  This bill has been assigned to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation committee.
• Committee Assignment: House Energy and Commerce

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  This bill has been assigned to the House Energy and Commerce committee.
• Committee Assignment: House Judiciary

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  This bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary committee.
• Committee Assignment: House Judiciary - Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security

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  This bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary - Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security committee.

Bill Statistics on OpenCongress

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Most-commented sections of the bill text

Highest Rated User Comments

• On August 06, 2009, by RadioAgent - I have seen guns that are smaller than cellphones. And lets not even talk about drugs in prisons. This is totally lame legislation. If you want to deny access to cellphones by prison inmates, just search the inmates, the guards and cooks and all the others well enough to make sure they don't have them. I can't get my cellphone through a metal detector at an airport. How hard can it be to screen prison inmates?

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  As noted by RadioAgent, a user on OpenCongress.org, on August 06, 2009, "I have seen guns that are smaller than cellphones. And lets not even talk about drugs in prisons. This is totally lame legislation. If you want to deny access to cellphones by prison inmates, just search the inmates, the guards and cooks and all the others well enough to make sure they don't have them. I can't get my cellphone through a metal detector at an airport. How hard can it be to screen prison inmates?"
• On February 12, 2009, by tinman1 - Criminals have no need for cell phones in prison. where are they going to go? what are they doing calling for pizza? Criminals only use cell phones to skirt the necessity of using the monitored land lines provided by the system, more often than not for nefarious reasons. Allowing the corrections departments to tactically block these transmissions within the local property lines of the prison is justifiable and prudent.

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  As noted by tinman1, a user on OpenCongress.org, on February 12, 2009, "Criminals have no need for cell phones in prison. where are they going to go? what are they doing calling for pizza? Criminals only use cell phones to skirt the necessity of using the monitored land lines provided by the system, more often than not for nefarious reasons. Allowing the corrections departments to tactically block these transmissions within the local property lines of the prison is justifiable and prudent."
• On August 06, 2009, by Ghost1981 - Well as great as that might be, its actually currently impossible to block only the illicit cell phones in use within the prison without blocking other communications. Regardless though of the state of the technological side of this problem there are much more practical and probably better in the long run ways to solve this problem. And in the end, if they are able to smuggle cell phones in, I'm sure they will be able to circumvent the blocking.

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  As noted by Ghost1981, a user on OpenCongress.org, on August 06, 2009, "Well as great as that might be, its actually currently impossible to block only the illicit cell phones in use within the prison without blocking other communications. Regardless though of the state of the technological side of this problem there are much more practical and probably better in the long run ways to solve this problem. And in the end, if they are able to smuggle cell phones in, I'm sure they will be able to circumvent the blocking."

Highly Rated Blog Articles

• S.251: A bill to prohibit the provision of Federal funds to State ... - January 30, 2011 by opencongress.org - OpenCongress - U.S. Congress - S.251 A bill to prohibit the provision of Federal funds to State and local governments for pa... Working... or Login with your OpenID. Click to ShowClick to Hide ... -

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  As noted by opencongress.org on January 30, 2011, "OpenCongress - U.S. Congress - S.251 A bill to prohibit the provision of Federal funds to State and local governments for pa... Working... or Login with your OpenID. Click to ShowClick to Hide ... - " (http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s251/show)
• Star Trek Roman Rezensionen: Mord an der Vulkan-Akademie - January 02, 2011 by Star Trek Roman Rezensionen - (S. 251) Wo war da Picards weiterentwickelte Sensibilität? Ebenso fragwürdig muten Kreditkarten und Münzen der Föderation (vgl. S. 184) oder ein kommerziell betriebener Landwirtschaftsbetrieb an (vgl. S. 77). ...

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  As noted by Star Trek Roman Rezensionen on January 02, 2011, "(S. 251) Wo war da Picards weiterentwickelte Sensibilität? Ebenso fragwürdig muten Kreditkarten und Münzen der Föderation (vgl. S. 184) oder ein kommerziell betriebener Landwirtschaftsbetrieb an (vgl. S. 77). ..." (http://trekromane.blogspot.com/2011/01/mord-der-vulkan-akademie.html)
• Dynamische Kompetenzen – ein Forschungsthema gewinnt an Bedeutung ... - November 30, 2010 by Wiwi-Werkbank - Knowing through doing : unleashing latent dynamic capabilities in the public sector / Ann Casebeer, Trish Reay, James Dewald and Amy Pablo. (2010) In: Connecting knowledge and performance in public services. – 2010, S. 251-275. ...

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  As noted by Wiwi-Werkbank on November 30, 2010, "Knowing through doing : unleashing latent dynamic capabilities in the public sector / Ann Casebeer, Trish Reay, James Dewald and Amy Pablo. (2010) In: Connecting knowledge and performance in public services. – 2010, S. 251-275. ..." (http://wiwi-werkbank.de/2010/12/dynamische-kompetenzen-ein-forschungsthema-gewinnt-an-bedeutung/)

Highly Rated News Articles

• Survey at International CTIA Wireless Conference Reveals 71 Percent Favor Legalizing Cell Phone Signal Jamming in Prisons - March 31, 2010 by Freshnews.com - ...general population. This problem has been further highlighted by the recent Senate passage of the Safe Prisons Communications Act (S.251) and its anticipated passage in Congress. CellAntenna’s CJAM system has been designed as a cost effective deter

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  As noted by Freshnews.com on March 31, 2010, "...general population. This problem has been further highlighted by the recent Senate passage of the Safe Prisons Communications Act (S.251) and its anticipated passage in Congress. CellAntenna’s CJAM system has been designed as a cost effective deter" (http://www.freshnews.com/news/306054/survey-international-ctia-wireless-conference-reveals-71-percent-favor-legalizing-cell-p)
• Trinity-Noble Files Petition for Rulemaking at the FCC on Electronic Jamming Devices - October 18, 2009 by Emediawire.com - ...to be chipping away at the antiquated regulation. On Monday, the Senate passed the Safe Prisons Communications Act of 2009 (S.251), which will direct the FCC to initiate rulemaking and ultimately allow states the right to purchase a device authorized by

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  As noted by Emediawire.com on October 18, 2009, "...to be chipping away at the antiquated regulation. On Monday, the Senate passed the Safe Prisons Communications Act of 2009 (S.251), which will direct the FCC to initiate rulemaking and ultimately allow states the right to purchase a device authorized by" (http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/10/prweb3071394.htm)
• Prison Cell Phone Jamming Bill Passed In Senate - October 04, 2009 by WBAL Radio - The Senate on Monday passed the Safe Prisons Communications Act of 2009 (S.251), which allows states to petition the Federal Communications Commission for ...

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  As noted by WBAL Radio on October 04, 2009, "The Senate on Monday passed the Safe Prisons Communications Act of 2009 (S.251), which allows states to petition the Federal Communications Commission for ..." (http://wbal.com/apps/news/templates/?a=37058&z=2)