Advocates Applaud Passage of the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022

The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022 was passed by the House of Representatives and is headed to the President’s desk. This historic victory comes a decade after Color Of Change, its members and partners pressured Securus, the largest prison telecom company, to publicly support the prison phone justice legislation after decades of opposing it. The legislation gives the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the authority to establish maximum service rates in prisons for communication providers. This will allow incarcerated individuals to stay in contact with their families and loved ones, without paying exorbitant fees and is a step toward ending carceral profiteering, once and for all. “Enactment of the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022 helps everyone, not just the incarcerated and their families,” stressed Benton Senior Counselor Andrew Jay Schwartzman on the broader impact of the new legislation. “Our entire society benefits when families can stay together; reducing recidivism reduces taxes for all of us and also makes the job of law enforcement easier and cheaper.”