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FCC votes to limit prison telecom charges

WASHINGTON, D.C.  — Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to dramatically limit the rates that prison telecoms charge for phone and video calls from prisons and jails. The new order more than halves the per-minute rate caps for all prison and jail phone calls

“The journey to this day has been decades in the making, from Mrs. Martha Wright-Reed, who was willing to put her name on a lawsuit more than 20 years ago, to bi-partisan champions in Congress, hard-working agency leaders and staff, fellow advocates, and most important: the countless family members and incarcerated people who took the time to tell their stories, write postcards, contact their legislators or attend a Federal Communications Commission listening session. “The FCC’s action today will help to ensure that families no longer have to pay inflated, predatory rates to speak to their incarcerated loved ones,” said Ariel Nelson, staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, who leads its Criminal Justice Debt & Reintegration Project. "It’s exciting to see that the Federal Communications Commission is taking steps to enact the Martha Wright-Reed legislation to lower the cost of prison phone calls," said Brandon Tucker, Senior Policy Director at Color Of Change.

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