Re “$3.16 a minute? Jail phone rates are crazy’’ (Editorial, May 5): Using phone calls to family members from inmates as a profit opportunity is the culmination of decades of Republican policy extolling the virtues of privatization. What we are seeing is one more burden placed on the poor and vulnerable, disproportionately felt by racial and ethnic minorities.

Rather than increasing barriers between prisoners and their families, we should be promoting their healthy reintegration into society, since most of the incarcerated will return to their neighborhoods and families.

Couple this with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s proposal to shift more public housing expenses onto those on the lower end of the economic ladder, and we see a concerted effort by the GOP to punish the poor. Are these the American values we want promoted in our name?

Edwin Andrews

Malden