San Francisco joins New York City as major cities commit to keeping families connected

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Yesterday, San Francisco announced that it was no longer charging families for phone calls from the City’s jails or generating revenue through commissary markups. First announced in June of 2019, the changes come after over a year of negotiations with service providers to eliminate costs to families.

“San Francisco’s new jail phone contract is an innovative breakthrough for the prison phone justice movement that protects incarcerated people, their families, and all taxpayers from exploitation at the hands of the predatory prison telecom industry,” said Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises. “All prison and jail administrators should consider adopting a similar contract.”

NATIONWIDE — Today, criminal justice advocates including Worth Rises, Color Of Change, MediaJustice, FreePress, and United Church of Christ held a virtual press conference and delivered 79,413 petition signatures for prison phone justice, calling on Congress to include the Martha Wright Reed Prison Phone Justice Act in the next relief bill. This crucial legislation, which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in May, would bring relief for millions of families with incarcerated loved ones struggling with the exorbitant costs of phone calls during this pandemic. More than 79,413 supporters have signed online petitions in favor of the legislation.

“Now more than ever, families with incarcerated loved ones are desperate for relief as they struggle to juggle the costs of keeping in touch with the new, pressing economic realities of COVID-19,” said Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises. “In recent weeks, even the conservative-led FCC has joined families and advocates in emphasizing the urgency of affordable prison phone calls during this moment of crisis. There is no time to waste. We are all looking to Congress to hear the people and heed the people by including prison phone justice in the next pandemic relief bill.”

NATIONWIDE — Today, federal regulators voted to advance a proposed rulemaking that would reduce rates for interstate prison phone calls and affirm the FCC’s authority over related ancillary fees but also acknowledged the limited impact of these actions, calling for federal legislation that would expand the FCC's authority over instate rates. Federal regulators also encouraged public comment regarding the new proposed rate caps, suggesting the final rate caps could be lower if there was support in the record. These actions have the potential to lower the cost of communication for families with incarcerated loved ones.

At the agency’s August 2020 Open Commission Meeting, commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a Report and Order on Remand and a Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking related to prison phone calls. With this vote, the Commission has taken a step in responding to longstanding demands from families with incarcerated loved ones to reign in the exorbitant cost of prison phone calls and other fees charged by prison telecom corporations.

NATIONWIDE — Yesterday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai joined the growing chorus of voices calling for urgent relief for families with incarcerated loved ones. Worth Rises applauds Chairman Pai’s statement and the FCC’s proposal to lower rate caps for interstate calls. However, countless families will continue to suffer from exploitative call rates until Congress restores the FCC’s authority to regulate all prison phone calls by passing the Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act.

On July 16, 2020, the FCC announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will provide immediate relief to incarcerated people and their families who want to stay connected. The FCC’s action proposes lowering the current per minute rate caps for interstate calls from $0.21 (prepaid) and $0.25 (collect) to $0.14 for calls from prisons and $0.16 for calls from jails. The FCC further announced that next month the Commissioners will vote to cap ancillary service charges, including deposit fees, resolving a legal question that had remained disputed after the 2017 federal appeals court decision in GTL v. FCC.

WEST HAVEN, CT — Prison phone justice advocates have posted a billboard on Interstate-95 in West Haven, calling on Governor Ned Lamont to stop charging families for phone calls from loved ones in state prisons. Advocates have been pushing the Connecticut state legislature to pass a bill making prison phone calls free since last year. The bill was raised by the Judiciary Committee again this year and scheduled for a hearing, but with the legislative session suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates have now turned their attention to the Governor and his executive action powers. Their billboard reads “Governor Lamont: It should be free to tell your child you love them.”

As prisons become the local epicenters of the COVID-19 outbreak, families are eager to connect with their loved ones behind bars. But with visits suspended, families are now entirely dependent on egregiously priced prion phone calls. Connecticut remains the second most expensive state for prison phone calls, a reality that weighs even more heavily on families as unemployment reaches Great Depression levels.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the United States House of Representatives passed, with a 208 to 199 vote, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act), a $3 trillion COVID-19 relief package that includes more funding to address the immediate needs of families with low income. Included in the 1,815-page omnibus stimulus bill is the COVID-19 Compassion and Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act, which would reinstate the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) authority to regulate all prison and jail phone call rates, reversing a major 2017 D.C. Court of Appeals ruling.

The Act would provide families with incarcerated loved ones—often Black and Brown families and families with low income—desperately-needed relief as they face an indefinite economic crisis. The stimulus package seeks to support these very families, many of whom are currently on the frontlines in essential jobs, facing layoffs, evictions, and hunger. Connecting with loved ones behind bars has never been more important as prisons and jails become the local epicenters of the COVID-19 outbreak across the country and visits are suspended.

Report Marks 3M, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Stanley Black & Decker for Divestment Based on Human Rights Violation Screen

NATIONWIDE — Today, criminal justice advocacy organization Worth Rises published the 2020 edition of its annual report The Prison Industry: Mapping Private Sector Players. Now covering 4,135 corporations across the 12 sectors, this year’s report introduces a harm score for each corporation that measures involvement in human rights violations in the prison industry. It also flags corporations that support prison labor and lists the names of lead executive officers at some of the largest corporations.

“Corporations that profit off of mass incarceration have skirted public scrutiny, often intentionally, to avoid blowback for their role in exploiting the marginalized communities our punishment system targets,” said Bianca Tylek, Executive Director for Worth Rises. “This year’s report shines a bright light on these corporations, and for the first time ever, offers an assessment of the harm they inflict on these communities. Investors and financial advisors who want to screen and divest their investment portfolios for exposure to the prison industry will find the new harm scores indispensable. For advocates and consumers, the harm scores can serve as a starting point for targeted corporate activism and campaigns.”

Families are increasingly economically insecure as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, making the egregious cost of phone calls with incarcerated loved ones almost entirely out of reach

NEW YORK, NY — On Thursday, 302 advocacy organizations, foundations, faith-based groups, and elected officials delivered an urgent letter to the National Governors Association, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and National Sheriffs’ Association calling on state and local leaders to use their executive powers to stop charging families to communicate with incarcerated loved ones and make prison and jail calls free. The letter was drafted and organized by organizations led by directly-impacted advocates, including the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), Legal Service for Prisoners with Children, Essie Justice Group, and We Got Us Now supported by Worth Rises and Color Of Change.

As prisons and jails become epicenters of the COVID-19 crisis, state officials and administrators have subjected incarcerated people to inexcusable neglect. Their attitudes and inaction have allowed existing crises of inaccessible hygiene, inadequate healthcare, substandard nutrition, and a general lack of care to manifest with a devastating human cost. Rather than addressing these grave injustices, correctional administrators have resorted to suspending visits and perpetual lockdowns, leaving incarcerated people in torturous isolation. Now, more than ever, calls constitute a critical lifeline.

By including the free calls provision, Congress brought immediate relief and comfort to families stressed about the safety of their loved ones and forced to pay $3.15 for a 15-minute call

NEW YORK, NY – On Thursday, prison phone justice advocates applauded Congress for including a provision in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The provision authorized the Department of Justice to make phone calls free for people incarcerated in federal prison and their families after a finding that emergency conditions existed. It took effect on Wednesday night after the Department of Justice declared last week that the COVID-19 pandemic was materially impacting the operations of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

This provision is particularly important as COVID-19 rampages through federal prisons and other correctional facilities across the country. While releasing incarcerated people remains most important given the impossibility of social distancing in correctional facilities, ensuring those left behind can connect with their support systems by making phone and video calls free is remarkably important. In a time when prisons and jails have often resorted to almost-perpetual lockdown, the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Prisons must take steps to ensure that the spirit of this provision and resulting policy, which was to increase access to communication, is not frustrated by limited access to phones or video kiosks.

We also urge every state, county, and city to follow Congress’ lead and make calls free in state prisons and local jails.

While some corporations step up to fight COVID-19, private equity firms and their portfolio companies target incarcerated people and their families

NEW YORK, NY – On Monday, Worth Rises challenged prison service corporations that have used the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity exploit incarcerated people and their families. Worth Rises sent demand letters to the directors of five firms and submitted an emergency request to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), urging the agency to ensure that incarcerated people and their families have access to free communication.

Worth Rises, along with the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, Color of Change, and the American Federation of Teachers, sent demand letters to five private equity firms that own corporations that have preyed upon incarcerated people, both before and during this pandemic. The letters demanded that the firms take immediate action to stop their portfolio corporations from exploiting incarcerated people and endangering the lives of countless people. The firms included: Platinum Equity, which owns Securus (telecom provider), JPay (financial services), and Satellite Tracking of People (electronic monitoring); HIG, which owns Wellpath (healthcare), TKC Holdings (food service, commissary, and telecom provider); American Securities, which owns GTL (telecom provider); BlueMountain, which owns Corizon (healthcare); and Apax Partners, which owns Attenti (electronic monitoring). The letters are available here.