Recordings raise questions about inmate rights

'The onus is on you'
To prevent improper recordings, Riverside County in California provided lawyers with codes to prevent their calls from being recorded. In Los Angeles, public defenders have access to a videoconference that can't be taped.

Los Angeles-based Public Communications Services Corp. runs phone systems in more than 100 state and federal prisons and jails across the country, including San Diego County. Dallas-based Securus Technologies Inc. serves 3,100 correctional facilities in 49 states.

"The first thing you hear when you pick up the phone is that your call can be recorded," said Rudy Zaragoza, a spokesman for Public Communications Services. "If you didn't register your phone number with the list, then you didn't do your job. The onus is on you."

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