FCC hears about prison phone rate abuse

From Free Press:

Jazlin Mendoza is one of the 2.7 million youths with an incarcerated parent. Phone calls with her father are so pricey that it’s hard for her family to pay for even five minutes of phone time.

The predatory rates phone companies charge for calls made to and from U.S. prisons prompted our friends at MAG-Net to launch a campaign for lower rates. On Tuesday, MAG-Net delivered more than 80,000 signatures urging the FCC to move forward with its proposal to cap these rates. Free Press participated in the petition delivery along with ColorOfChange.org, the Progressive Democrats of America and the United Church of Christ Office of Communication, Inc.

This day of action also included a congressional briefing featuring powerful testimony from people on both sides of the prison divide. In a recording played during the event, Keven Reese, who’s been in prison for 11 years, talked about how hard it is for his family to keep in touch when choosing to answer his phone calls may mean sacrificing Christmas presents for their children.

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, the agency’s strongest voice for prison-phone justice, noted that stories like these should make all of us feel “outraged.”

We want to thank you for adding your voice to the call for reform. We’ll keep you posted on how the FCC’s vote plays out.

Best,

Dana, Joseph, Candace and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net

P.S. We work hard every day to make sure the FCC sides with people and not big corporations. Help us continue to fight back with a monthly donation of $5. Thank you!

It is said that a program that connects prisoners to a healthy supportive family reduces the recidivism rate thus causing less of them to reoffend and return to prison. If it cuts down on the crime rate I'm for it.