For years, people who have loved ones in jail or prison have complained about phone service providers who charge sky-high fees for the ability to call and chat with an inmate. Charges can reach as high as $14 per minute. A recent New York Times article bluntly labels this price-gouging.
The efforts of inmates’ families to change the system have finally been rewarded. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission set limits on the rates inmates communications companies charge for most phone calls. This ruling expands a similar move two years ago that applied to interstate phone calls.
There are both humanitarian and practical reasons to limit the charges. It is hard to justify forcing inmates’ loved ones, many of whom are poor, to choose between buying necessities and staying in contact. Reforms are also in the public interest. Advocates have shown that a prisoner who maintains contact with family and community while serving time is less likely to return to crime and end up back in jail That benefits everybody.
There is more to be done. The FCC’s current rules do not cover other types of personal telecommunication like voice mail and video calls. The FCC is already moving ahead with public comment on this issue.
Both political leaders and advocates for inmates want the FCC to ban a common practice in which phone providers pay a kickback to corrections facilities. These payments add to the cost of inmate phone communications. However, it isn’t certain that the FCC has the authority to prohibit the use of these “commissions.” A final issue that reformers want to address is the practice of curtailing in-person visits with inmates. Where phone companies have persuaded prison officials to do this, inmates are left with no option but to pay the high calling rates.