Benton Institute Marks a Major Milestone on Road to Prison Phone Justice

July 18 marks a major milestone on the long road to right a market dysfunction that has wronged incarcerated persons and their loved ones for decades.  The Federal Communications Commission’s vote on Bringing Common Sense and Fairness to Correctional Facility Phone Rates will lower rates for voice phone calls including, perhaps most importantly, local and intrastate calls.  Among the many other long overdue reforms, the agency’s Report and Order will end kickbacks, euphemistically called “site commissions,” to carceral facilities.  No less significantly, the new measures are forward-looking, giving the FCC the power to regulate video calls and other emerging technologies. I have nothing but praise for Chairwoman Rosenworcel and her fellow Commissioners who moved this item forward, and the hard-working FCC staff for crafting forceful rules that are faithful to the goals of the new law.