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  "description": "The FCC and allies will contend with a 14-state coalition opposing the rule.",
  "path": "/11-state-attorneys-general-defend-fccs-cap-on-prison-phone-rates/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-04-26T00:38:12.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "tags": [
    "_an amicus brief_",
    "_July 2024 order_",
    "_the partial support_",
    "_a release_",
    "_Worth Rises_",
    "_Pennsylvania Prison Society_",
    "_county jail would cut off phone service_"
  ],
  "textContent": "WASHINGTON, April 25, 2025 – A coalition of 11 attorneys general is urging a federal appeals court to uphold a Federal Communications Commission order that drastically reduced the cost of phone and video calls for incarcerated individuals and their families.\n\nIn _an amicus brief_ filed Monday with the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the AGs said the FCC acted squarely within its authority when it issued its _July 2024 order_ capping calling rates in prisons and jails.\n\nThe FCC was expressly authorized to regulate these communications services when Congress enacted the _Martha Wright-Reed Act_ in 2022, the brief said.\n\nUnder the FCC’s rate caps, the cost of a 15-minute phone call dropped from as much as $11.35 to $0.90 in large jails and from $12.10 to $1.35 in small jails. The rules went into effect for large prisons and jails on Jan. 1, 2025 and for small jails on April 1.\n\nThe rules were adopted under former FCC Chairwoman **Jessica Rosenworcel** with _the partial support_ of now Chairman **Brendan Carr** and the full support of Republican Commissioner **Nathan Simington**.\n\nIn _a release_, California Attorney General **Rob Bonta** , D, said staying connected to loved ones and a support system while in prison was one of the best ways to reduce recidivism and support successful rehabilitation later on.\n\nBonta was joined by the AGs of nine other states and the District of Columbia. The states are New York, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.\n\nFive of the states – California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Colorado – have already implemented policies to provide free phone calls for incarcerated individuals in state-run correctional facilities. However, those rates may not apply to local adult jails and federal prisons within the states.\n\nIn the brief, AGs said, “The high costs of keeping in contact drive more than 1 in 3 families, who are already financially burdened, into debt for phone calls and visits with their loved ones.”\n\nWithin the case, the FCC and intervenors, like public interest groups _Worth Rises_ and the _Pennsylvania Prison Society_, will be facing a 14-state coalition, backing prison telecom providers Securus Technologies and Pay Tel Communications.\n\nPrison telecoms are fighting to preserve the current rate structure.\n\nSo far at least one jail has decided to cut inmate communications services as a result of the rules. Last month, Arkansas’s Baxter County Sheriff announced the _county jail would cut off phone service_ entirely rather than comply with the FCC’s new limits.",
  "title": "11 State Attorneys General Defend FCC’s Cap on Prison Phone Rates",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-11T03:30:27.610Z"
}