WASHINGTON — Yesterday, a coalition of public interest groups including UCC Media Justice Ministry, Worth Rises, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and others filed an Application for Review urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to overturn a recent decision by the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau that suspends the 2024 FCC rules to lower price caps on prison phone calls.

The groups make clear that the Bureau’s Suspension Order to delay these protections undermines the bipartisan Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act — which was enacted by Congress in 2022 and signed into law by President Biden in January 2023 — and tasked the FCC with ensuring affordable and just communications services for incarcerated people. Before this action, Incarcerated Person Calling Service (IPCS) rules requiring a decrease in the cost of a 15-minute phone call to $0.90 from as much as $11.35 in large jails and to $1.35 from $12.10 in small jails had gone into effect earlier this year.

"Slashing telecommunications rates for incarcerated people has been a bipartisan issue in Congress and the FCC. Suspending them, especially without a vote from the full Commission, is a gross injustice." — Mignon Clyburn, former Acting FCC Chairwoman and Benton Institute for Broadband & Society board member.

Now families across the U.S. are once again vulnerable to exorbitant charges for staying in touch with loved ones behind bars.

"The delay of the rules is a gift to prison telecom corporations and their nefarious law enforcement partners that flies in the face of justice for families desperate for relief from their predation. The Wireline Competition Bureau has no legal authority to unilaterally suspend a unanimously adopted FCC Commission order, especially one rooted in a congressional mandate like the bipartisan Martha Wright-Reed Act. In doing so, the Bureau’s action contravenes both the will of Congress and the Commission to reign in the industry and protect families. Every day of delay deepens the harm to families forced to pay predatory prices just to stay connected to their loved ones. The Commission must act swiftly to reverse this unlawful and unconscionable action.” — Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises.

Thousands of individuals and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have already filed at the FCC protesting the FCC’s decision. The Application for Review provides the legal mechanism for the FCC to reverse the Bureau’s decision and quickly come into compliance with the law.

Advocates emphasize that “the Bureau’s action is inconsistent with and undermines the Martha Wright-Reed Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the FCC’s own rules.”

“The Bureau's decision is as harmful as it is mystifying. It goes far beyond the Bureau's authority, a fact that the FCC majority just acknowledged last week in its open meeting when it agreed that Bureaus cannot conduct rulemakings, and the consequences are severe. Like Martha Wright-Reed, elderly grandparents must now choose between saying 'I love you' and buying life-saving medication. Clergy will need to cut back their counseling for congregants facing some of the most difficult and stressful moments of their lives.” — Cheryl Leanza, Policy Advisor of the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry.

The groups also say that the Suspension Order was issued without any request from any party and did not include a public process. The coalition is calling on the FCC to swiftly rescind the Bureau’s Suspension Order and restore the integrity of the Martha Wright-Reed Act. They demonstrate that the Suspension Order was wrong for three reasons:

The Bureau violated Congress’s statutory mandate for the FCC to promulgate rules by December 2024 that address unjust costs for intrastate calling and video communication.
The Bureau violated the Administrative Procedure Act because it failed to offer notice, contradicts its own and FCC findings, and wholly lacks any factual or legal foundation.
The Bureau exceeded its authority by conducting an ultra vires rulemaking when it took action on “novel questions of fact, law or policy” outside of its authority pursuant to the FCC’s rules.

Additional quotes from the groups are below:

"In addition to being illegal and contrary to the will of Congress, this Suspension Order is profoundly cruel. After years of families fighting to stay connected, overcoming the forces arrayed against them time and again to get legislation passed and get rules in place, the Order out of the blue snatches back the promised relief for two years — with a warning that worse may follow. This is more than an affront to due process and the will of Congress. It is an affront to fundamental fairness and human decency. The full Commission should move quickly to grant the Application for Review and reverse this unjustified, illegal and cruel Order." — Harold Feld, Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge.

“Suspending the 2024 IPCS Order is not only a violation of the law but a devastating setback for families striving to stay connected with their incarcerated loved ones, high call costs force families—often those already facing financial hardship—to choose between paying for basic needs and maintaining crucial bonds.” — Professor Aliza Kaplan, Director, Criminal Justice Reform Clinic at Lewis & Clark Law School.