Civil Rights, Media Justice, and Labor Groups Applaud the FCC for Further Action on Unfair Prison Phone Rates Contact Info: Stephanie Vanegas, 415-495-4200 ext.101 | stephanie@spitfirestrategies.com Washington D.C. – In response to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voting to approve a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, to comprehensively reform interstate and intrastate inmate calling services for prisons and detention facilities, civil rights, media justice, and labor groups released the following statement: “The FCC’s plan to address the cost of local telephone calls to prison, jails and immigration detention facilities is another step toward reducing the unfair financial burden on incarcerated people and their families. We applaud Chairman Wheeler and Commissioner Clyburn’s leadership to ensure that inmates can maintain contact with parents and grandparents, children, spouses, siblings, clergy and friends. Preserving the most reliable way for inmates to keep relationships that matter is one of the best ways to ensure our communities are safer and to decrease re-offenses and reentry into the criminal justice system. By taking further action, the FCC can finish the job and eliminate predatory phone rates entirely. The agency has an opportunity to increase transparency in an industry that profits from outrageous fees at the expense of families and address the terrible situation facing inmates with disabilities who often cannot communicate with the outside world. The civil rights, media justice, and labor community stands behind Wheeler and Clyburn because all families deserve the right to stay connected at reasonable and fair rates, as mandated by the Communications Act. We look forward to rapid completion of this next phase of the FCC’s work." American Friends Service Committee Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC Center for Media Justice Common Cause Communications Workers of America Free Press Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf (HEARD) Illinois Campaign for Prison Phone Justice of UCIMC Media Alliance Media Literacy Project Open Technology Institute, New America Prison Policy Initiative Prisoners Legal Services of Massachusetts Public Knowledge NAACP National Consumer Law Center, on behalf of its low income clients National Hispanic Media Coalition New Jersey Advocates for Immigrant Detainees The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights United Church of Christ, OC Inc. ]]>
