FCC says rule would save families $386 million annually

3/10/2024 6:04

        Republican attorneys general from 14
        U.S. states, led by Arkansas and Indiana, have filed suit to
        challenge the Federal Communications Commission's decision to
        impose a cap on the amount prisons and jails can charge inmates
        for telephone use.
        
        The states in the lawsuit, filed on Monday with the St.
        Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, argued that the
        FCC rule improperly caps how much money these facilities can
        charge inmates for phone calls. The states also said the rule
        deprives the facilities of needed funding.
        
        The FCC has said its rule, announced in July and due to take
        effect in November, would cut bills for about 2 million
        incarcerated people and their families, saving them about $386
        million annually.
        
        FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel in July said the rule
        addresses "the unconscionable rates families of the incarcerated
        pay for communications." Regular contact with family members,
        Rosenworcel added, can reduce the chances that inmates return to
        crime after their released.
        
        Other states joining the lawsuit included Alabama, Florida,
        Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, South
        Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. The states told the 8th
        Circuit that the FCC rule "is arbitrary, capricious and an abuse
        of discretion."
        
        Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said the FCC's
        restrictions, by reducing fund going to the facilities, "make it
        harder to identify safety risks and for law enforcement to do
        their jobs."
        
        In response to the lawsuit, an agency spokesperson said on
        Wednesday that "the moral and legal authority to stop these
        predatory rates that harm families and increase recidivism is on
        the side of the FCC's bipartisan action."
        
        Under the final rules, the cost of a 15-minute phone call
        would drop to 90 cents from as much as $11.35 in large jails,
        while in small jails, it would cost $1.35 instead of $12.10.
        
        Inmates cannot receive voice calls but families can schedule
        video calls through some providers. Video call costs including
        for visitations would be capped under the rule for the first
        time, at 11 to 25 cents a minute, less than a quarter of current
        prices, and fees are barred.
        Congress passed a law in 2023 to give the FCC broad authority to
        cut inmate calls costs after previous caps set by the agency
        were reversed by another court in 2017.