Wright petition passes!!! FCC approves rules to cap prison phone rates

[antigone382]

FCC approves rules to cap prison phone rates
By Cecilia Kang, Published: August 9

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday approved rules to overhaul skyrocketing prison phone rates, dealing a blow to the handful of companies that dominate the market.

In a 2 to 1 decision, the agency voted to immediately cap how much prison phone-service providers can charge the recipients of an inmate’s call at 25 cents per-minute so that a 15-minute long-distance call won’t exceed $3.75. The FCC also banned the providers from charging extra fees to connect a call or use a calling card.

The federal order affects a previously unregulated segment of the telecommunications industry and aims to end the explosion of prison calling costs that have reached as much as $20 for a15-minute call in some states.

The order also resolves a decade-long fight by District resident Martha Wright, whose petition to the FCC languished until acting Chairman Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat, revived it last year. Wright, now 86, had fought for changes to the system after she struggled to afford to call her grandson in an Arizona prison.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/fcc-approves-rules-to-reform-prison-phone-rates/2013/08/09/1f7ac512-010d-11e3-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html

This is great news for prisoners and their families!!!

[The Magistrate]

1. Excellent, Ma'am: This Was A Despicable And Destructive Gouge

[antigone382]

2. It's one small step in getting society to view prisoners as human beings.

...and one that will hopefully have very positive effects on prisoners and their families.

“It’s been a long, long time coming,” Clyburn said at the FCC meeting. She said 2.7 million children have a parent in prison and studies show that active communications between prisoners and their families helps reduce the rate of recidivism.

[leftstreet]

3. DURec

[antigone382]

4. Thanks! n/t

[RKP5637]

5. K&R! n/t

[antigone382]

6. Thank you! n/t

[HiPointDem]

7. kr.

[antigone382]

10. Thank you! n/t

[catrose]

8. But does this order address all the fees?

The setup fee, the shutdown fee, the low balance fee, the IDon'tLikeYou fee, etc. ad infinitum. And what about the air time that the prisoners pay for during the various announcements? Those companies are as bad as banks for bilking those least able to afford it.

[antigone382]

9. The way the article is written it seems that the total cost for a 15 minute call...

...should not exceed $3.75. But I am not sure about it. I have no doubt there is more work yet to be done on this issue, and that the companies in question will take this ruling to court and try all methods at their disposal to weasel their way out of it. At the moment, however, it is a significant victory for prisoners and their families.

[MotherPetrie]

11. Good.

[antigone382]

14. :) I am very happy about this news. It's a step in the right direction.

[Zorra]

12. Nice to see good progressive things like this happen. nt

[antigone382]

13. +1

[freshwest]

15. +1

[freshwest]

16. Is there a way to thank the acting chairman for this? She helped more than just herself.

[antigone382]

17. I don't know offhand, and I'm about to go to bed.

I would check out updates from "The Nation Inside," a group that works on prison system reform. They are how I heard about the Wright Petition.

[Scurrilous]

18. K & R

[antigone382]

19. Thank you! n/t