FCC: Prison phone rates must be ?just, reasonable, and fair?

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will consider an item at its October meeting that willreform inmate calling services (ICS) to ensure that rates are “just, reasonable, and fair.” The reforms, if approved, will apply to all types of calls – local, long distance, and international – and establish caps on all inmate calling rates.

Phone contact between inmates and loved ones reduces the likelihood of recidivism, but according to Think Progress “more than a third of families with a loved one in prison have to go into debt to pay for phone calls and visits, adding to the overall financial burden of incarceration.” At the Benton Foundation’s Digital Beat blog, Andrew Jay Schwartzmanexplains how prison phone companies exploit inmates:

Simply put, prisoners are captive customers and they have been ripped off. Charges vary by locality, but some 15 minute calls could cost $20 or more. Prison phone companies compete for their exclusive contracts by offering “site commissions,” which are more accurately described as kickbacks, to prison authorities. Since prisoners have no choice and no bargaining power, the market is upside-down, so the competition has created higher, rather than lower, rates.

FCC Chairman Wheeler’s reform would address this injustice by capping all inmate calling rates -- a 15-minute call can cost no more than $1.65 – and limiting or banning ancillary service charges, which can add nearly 40% to the cost of a single call. “These reforms,” reads the FCC fact sheet, “will help inmates and their families stay in touch by making calling more affordable, and benefit society as a whole by helping inmates transition more smoothly back into society upon their release.”

Ensuring Just, Reasonable, and Fair Rates for Inmate Calling Services (FCC, Sept. 2015)

Here’s How Much It Costs To Have A Family Member In Prison (Think Progress, Sept. 15, 2015)