New York, NY — Today, Worth Rises denounced the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recent decision to pause implementation of long-awaited regulations capping the cost of phone and video calls in jails and prisons, alongside more than 1,000 families that have already submitted public comments to the FCC urging reconsideration.
“This delay is a blatant handout to correctional telecom corporations and their profit-sharing government partners, who are both angry that the free-for-all is over,” said Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises. “Congress mandated that the FCC regulate this industry within 18-24 months and the FCC delivered well-reasoned rules that garnered unanimous support from the commissioners. Delaying the implementation of these rules by even a day flouts Congress’ mandate, represents an abuse of bureau authority, and ignores the millions of people urgently awaiting relief. Every day that the rules are not implemented is another day that corporations and their correctional partners are extorting families over the essential need to stay connected to their loved ones behind bars. The correctional telecom industry knows its business model depends on this exploitation, and they will spare no expense to protect it.”
The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act, passed by Congress with bipartisan support and signed into law in January 2023, authorized and mandated the FCC to regulate correctional phone and video call services. In July 2024, the FCC followed through, issuing a 430-page order, passed by unanimous vote, that would cap call rates and bring relief to millions of families affected by incarceration — to the tune of more than $500 million a year. The order also banned commissions to government agencies and prohibited the pass through of surveillance service costs to consumers through rates.
In response, correctional telecom providers, including industry giants Securus and ViaPath, and correctional officials, who all stand to lose when the new rules are implemented, have been lobbying FCC Chair Brendan Carr since his appointment for a delay and reversal of the rules. Notably, Carr voted in favor of the rules last year. Then, suddenly, last week, Carr’s office announced that implementation of the lion share of the regulations, which began to go into effect in the fall, was suspended until April 2027 — delaying relief for families at some facilities by over two years.
The cost of staying connected with incarcerated loved ones has long been a source of financial and emotional strain for families. One in three families with an incarcerated loved one goes into debt trying to stay connected, and 87% of those carrying this burden are women, predominantly women of color. For decades, the egregious prices charged for basic communication services have been driven at least in part by profit-sharing contracts between correctional telecom providers and correctional agencies, with facilities taking as much as 95% of call revenues in kickbacks. This arrangement has made correctional officials, particularly local sheriffs who have become reliant on these revenues, a powerful mouthpiece for the scorned correctional telecom industry. Some are threatening to deny incarcerated people access to calls if their access to the revenues is not restored.
“The FCC’s 2024 order was a major step toward ending the insidious profit-sharing relationship between correctional telecom providers and correctional agencies that exacerbates the exploitation of incarcerated people and their families,” said Tylek. “But with its recent action, the FCC has shifted to rewarding it instead — throwing the needs of families and public safety, which rely on access to communication inside, to the wayside. Over 1,000 families have now submitted public comments urging the FCC to reconsider and allow these protections to take effect as the original order requires. The FCC must listen.”
Worth Rises remains committed to fighting alongside directly impacted families, advocates, and lawmakers to ensure that everyone has access to communication.