Making a 15-minute phone call from a large jail can cost more than $11. Starting next year, it will be under $1.
The Federal Communications Commission has approved rules that will drastically cut the prices phone providers can charge inmates to make phone calls, potentially upending a market that regulators say has been marked by high prices and limited competition. The rules will slash existing per-minute price maximums for interstate calls by more than half, apply the new caps to unregulated intrastate calls, establish price maximums for video calls for the first time and prohibit providers from charging extra fees, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The FCC action was mandated after President Biden signed the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act last year, expanding FCC authority to regulate communication prices for prisoners. Martha Wright-Reed, a blind woman who relied on prison calls to communicate with her incarcerated grandson, was an early champion in the fight to lower prison phone costs for more than 20 years before her death in 2015. “It’s just the one that hits you every single day,” said Cheryl Leanza, a communications attorney and advocate for prison communications reform. “Can we call Dad? Can we talk to Mom? Can we call Grandpa? No, you just can’t even if you want to, because it’s just too much. It’s too much money.” Activists have cited research that suggests more consistent phone calls between inmates and family members reduce recidivism rates. Communication costs for inmates and their families have come under increased scrutiny New York City, San Francisco, Connecticut, Massachusetts, California, Colorado and Minnesota have made calls from prison and/or jail free.
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