Commissioner Starks Statement on Passage of Prison Phone Reform

Congress passed the bipartisan Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, which restores the Commission’s authority to ensure service providers charge “just and reasonable rates” for intrastate and interstate calls and other communications methods used by incarcerated individuals in correctional facilities. The legislation is the result of the dedication of the late Martha Wright, who led the charge in 2003 to create positive change and ensure families with incarcerated individuals had the ability to stay in contact with their loved ones by eliminating the burden of exorbitant inmate calling rates. Commissioner Starks issued the following statement: “Jails and prisons have charged predatory rates to incarcerated individuals for far too long. [This] action ensures the Commission has clear authority to act to ensure that rates charged for incarcerated individuals are just and reasonable no matter the phone technology used to make the call or whether the call crosses state lines. I hope the FCC moves quickly to implement the rulemaking as required by the statute soon after President Biden signs the legislation.