Congress passes bill to cap 'predatory' prison phone calls
The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act will allow for the price of intrastate inmate phone calls to be regulated by the FCC Fees for phone calls for people incarcerated in America's prisons have skyrocketed in the past three years -- with the industry costing families nearly $1 billion a year -- according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a think tank. But that could soon change, because legislation that is awaiting President Joe Biden's signature will let the Federal Communications Commission cap the price of some prison phone calls. Titled the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act, the bill, which passed with bipartisan support in the House and Senate last week, will allow for the price of intrastate inmate phone calls to be regulated by the FCC. The legislation was named after Martha Wright-Reed, who originally filed a petition with the FCC seeking to reduce the price of prison phone calls to keep in touch with her incarcerated gran...