WASHINGTON — Today, over 14,000 individuals, as well as nearly 100 civil rights and advocacy organizations representing individuals and communities across the country submitted a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioners Anna Gomez and Olivia Trusty, calling on the Commission to overturn the Wireline Competition Bureau’s June 30 Suspension Order. The order suspends critical protections guaranteed by the bipartisan Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act to lower price caps on prison phone calls.
This follows the Application for Review that several groups including UCC Media Justice Ministry, Worth Rises, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and others filed on June 30, urging the FCC to overturn the Bureau’s decision. The FCC set a deadline of August 29 for opposition comments to the Application for Review and a deadline of today for responses.
The Suspension Order halts rules that had already gone into effect earlier this year, lowering the cost of a 15-minute phone call for incarcerated people from as much as $11.35 in large jails and $12.10 in small jails to just $0.90 and $1.35, respectively. Advocates warn that this rollback strips away long-overdue safeguards, leaving families once again vulnerable to predatory rates that undermine rehabilitation, successful reentry, and family stability.
“Families have fought for decades to curb predatory prison telecom rates, and Congress finally delivered progress when it issued a unanimous, bipartisan mandate through the Martha Wright Reed Act, which the FCC implemented with carefully considered regulations. For the FCC’s Wireline Bureau to now suddenly delay, and even suggest it will strip away, these hard-won protections without proper public comment opportunity is not only cruel but unlawful,” said Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises. “Over 14,000 families and their allies have joined faith leaders and advocates across the country in vocalizing their opposition to this delay by filing comments, and it is critical that the Commission listen, especially as it makes claims that it seeks to protect these very same families with its recent decision. The FCC must act swiftly to restore the regulations on the original implementation timeline, respecting Congress’ mandate and putting families first.”
“We hope this letter will be effective, but recent federal court filings by the FCC lead us to believe that it will go unheard,” said Cheryl Leanza, Policy Advisor of the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry. “The FCC recently stated in a court filing that it will hold a Commission-level vote at the end of October and that it will likely permanently strip away these critical protections. The Trump FCC's abrupt abandonment of consumers preyed upon by the deeply immoral and broken carceral communications sector—after it initially defended the protections—is a devastating and unexplained betrayal.”
The letter states that the order not only lacked public input but also exceeded the Bureau’s authority and ignored Congress’s mandate for affordable communication access in prisons and jails. Over 14,000 individuals, along with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have already filed objections with the FCC. See this Worth Rises petition and the FCC comments.
Advocates urge the commission to swiftly rescind the Bureau’s unlawful action and restore the protections passed by Congress with unanimous, bipartisan support.
The full letter and full list of signers is on the FCC’s website here.