Current:Home > ContactIt may soon cost a buck instead of $12 to make a call from prison, FCC says -Pinnacle Profit Strategies
It may soon cost a buck instead of $12 to make a call from prison, FCC says
EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-11 05:24:27
The era of of telecom providers charging high rates to incarcerated people and their families may soon be over, according to the Federal Communications Commission, with the regulatory agency saying it is set to "end exorbitant" call charges next month.
The FCC's proposed rules would significantly lower existing per-minute rate caps for out-of-state and international audio calls from correctional facilities, and apply those rate caps to in-state audio calls, the agency announced Wednesday.
The FCC on July 18 "will vote to end exorbitant phone and video call rates that have burdened incarcerated people and their families for decades," it stated in a Wednesday news release.
"Congress empowered the FCC to close the final loopholes in the communications system which has had detrimental effects on families and recidivism rates nationwide," the FCC said of the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act, signed by President Biden early last year.
If adopted, callers in large jails using a single service to make a 15-minute audio call would pay 90 cents rather than as much as $11.35 under the rate caps and charges in effect today, and callers in a small jail would pay $1.35 rather than the $12.10 billed today for that 15 minutes of phone time, the FCC said.
The legislation clarified the FCC's authority to regulate in-state calls from correctional facilities, as well as its authority to regulate video calls. The agency had successfully imposed caps on rates for out-of-state calls from prisons and calls, but not in-state calls, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.
"Exorbitant costs and fees heighten depression, isolation and loneliness among incarcerated individuals — actively harming them instead of providing any discernible benefit," a coalition of organizations said in a June 17 letter to the FCC, calling on the agency to lower rates as much as possible.
- In:
- Federal Communications Commission
Kate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York, where she covers business and consumer finance.
veryGood! (4)
Related
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Shooting at park in Salem, Oregon, kills 1 person and wounds 2 others
- Women’s tennis tour and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will work to support prenatal care
- Alabama clinic resumes IVF treatments under new law shielding providers from liability
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- At Northwestern, students watch climate change through maple trees
- New report clears Uvalde police in school shooting response
- Features of TEA Business College
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- Michigan appeals court stands by ruling that ex-officer should be tried for murder
Ranking
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- Shooting at park in Salem, Oregon, kills 1 person and wounds 2 others
- Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied Break Up: Revisit Their Romance Before Divorce
- CBS News poll finds most Americans see state of the union as divided, but their economic outlook has been improving
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Bunnie XO, Jelly Roll's wife, reflects on anniversary of leaving OnlyFans: 'I was so scared'
- 'Cabrini' film tells origin of first US citizen saint: What to know about Mother Cabrini
- US jobs report for February is likely to show that hiring remains solid but slower
Recommendation
EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
Duke-North Carolina clash leads games to watch on final weekend of college basketball season
More than 7,000 cows have died in Texas Panhandle wildfires, causing a total wipeout for many local ranchers
Annette Bening recalls attending 2000 Oscars while pregnant with daughter Ella Beatty
Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
The 5 Charlotte Tilbury Products Every Woman Should Own for the Maximum Glow Up With Minimal Effort
Two groups appeal the selection of new offshore wind projects for New Jersey, citing cost
Akira Toriyama, legendary Japanese manga artist and Dragon Ball creator, dies at 68