FanPost

Stop Tom Gores' Predatory Business Practices

Yep, this is a flat-out political post. But it relates directly to the Detroit Pistons. As has been detailed on this pages, Tom Gores recently purchased Securus Technologies, which has made its money by charging insane rates to prisoners who are attempting to keep in touch with their families on the outside. (Rates can run at well-over a dollar a minute for even local calls. And, of course, a vast majority of our world record prison population consists of lower-income people and their families--having lost a wage earner to the prison industry--are among the most vulnerable.

More information is here: An Open Letter to Tom Gores. (Note the admittedly unscientific poll indicating that 145 DBB members "hated and disapproved" of Gores' business deal, while 10 "had no problem" with it.)

Credo Action is currently circulating on online petition asking Congress to step in and put an end to (or at least limit on) this exploitation. I'd encourage those who are like-minded to sign and distribute this petition:

Petition to Congress

Want to go a step further? Contact Tom Gores directly (or at least his PR handlers) at

Contact Tom Gores

Even back when things were going well at the new arena, Gores' active contribution to turning our prison system into a cash cow for the rich (the US has less than 5% of the world's population and 22% of its prisoners...and folks are making a ton of money off of this situation) was lessening my enthusiasm to remain a Pistons fan. (The crap show on the court this year didn't help, of course.) Tom can "generously" give as much bottled water to Flint as he wants; it means little to me if he's making money off of the tragedy endured by many thousands of Flint families.

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