By LeRoy Nellis
Austin, Texas
January 24, 2026
The following are formal mailing letters sent to U.S. Senators who have publicly criticized Securus Technologies or the prison telecommunications industry. These letters document concerns regarding the use of jail communication and surveillance systems as tools of coercion against pre-trial detainees and their families.
I have already contacted the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, the Texas Attorney General, and the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. These letters are published here for transparency and public record.
Letter to Senator Ron Wyden
The Honorable Ron Wyden
United States Senate
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
From:
LeRoy Nellis
4845 Twin Valley Dr
Austin, TX 78731
Phone: 512-450-1533
Website: https://LeRoyNellis.blog
Dear Senator Wyden,
I am writing to request your assistance regarding Securus Technologies and the use of jail telecommunications and surveillance systems as tools of coercion against pre-trial detainees and their families.
You have publicly demanded investigation into Securus’s data-sharing and location-tracking practices. I respectfully urge you to extend that scrutiny to county jail environments, where Securus-integrated systems operate inside conditions involving retaliation, medical neglect, sanitation deprivation, and psychological coercion.
Public records and detainee accounts indicate that call data, metadata, and surveillance analytics are used to influence housing placement, discipline, psychological evaluations, and out-of-state transfers—often without notice or due-process safeguards.
These practices harm not only detainees presumed innocent, but also their families, who experience financial exploitation, chilled communications, and fear of retaliation for maintaining contact or reporting abuse.
I respectfully request that your office examine whether Securus’s detention-based data practices violate federal privacy, civil-rights, or consumer-protection laws.
Respectfully,
LeRoy Nellis
Letter to Senator Tammy Duckworth
The Honorable Tammy Duckworth
United States Senate
524 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Duckworth,
I am writing to request your continued leadership regarding exploitative jail telecommunications practices, particularly as they affect pre-trial detainees and their families.
While you have worked to curb abusive phone fees, communication access itself is now used as leverage and punishment. Families are subjected to excessive charges, sudden account suspensions, call disruptions, and monitoring. Detainees report retaliation following attempts to maintain family contact or report jail conditions.
These harms operate alongside sanitation deprivation, environmental hazards, medical neglect, and forced transfers that impair the right to counsel.
I respectfully request your assistance in advancing federal oversight that protects families from exploitation and preserves constitutional access to communication.
Respectfully,
LeRoy Nellis
Letter to Senator Brian Schatz
The Honorable Brian Schatz
United States Senate
722 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Schatz,
I am writing to request your assistance regarding the role of jail telecommunications systems in due-process violations affecting pre-trial detainees.
Detainees report that call monitoring and metadata are used to influence discipline, housing, mental-health evaluations, and transfers without notice or opportunity to contest the information used against them. Families simultaneously face financial exploitation and chilled communication.
These practices raise serious concerns under the Fourteenth and Sixth Amendments and warrant federal inquiry.
Respectfully,
LeRoy Nellis
Letter to Senator Rob Portman
The Honorable Rob Portman
United States Senate
448 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Portman,
I am writing to request bipartisan oversight regarding the use of jail telecommunications systems as instruments of coercion in pre-trial detention.
Communication access is routinely restricted, monitored, or weaponized to punish detainees and pressure families, causing financial and emotional harm to private citizens with no avenue for redress.
Respectfully,
LeRoy Nellis
Letter to Senator Cory Booker
The Honorable Cory Booker
United States Senate
717 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Booker,
I am writing regarding civil-rights violations tied to jail telecommunications systems, particularly those operated by Securus Technologies.
These systems are used to coerce pre-trial detainees and punish their families in environments already marked by sanitation deprivation, medical neglect, and psychological pressure.
Pre-trial detainees are presumed innocent. Their families are private citizens. Any system that weaponizes communication access against either group demands urgent federal attention.
Respectfully,
LeRoy Nellis
LeRoy Nellis 