Congress Must Protect Families from Predatory Prison Phone Rates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Charmaine Riley, [email protected], 202.548.7166

The Martha Reed-Wright Just and Reasonable Communications Act empowers the Federal Communications Commission to reduce excessive charges for intrastate rates

WASHINGTON – Wade Henderson, interim president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the introduction of S.1541, the Martha Reed-Wright Just and Reasonable Communications Act, legislation that clarifies the Federal Communications Commission’s jurisdiction over intrastate rates for telephone calls from prisons:

“The elimination of these predatory practices is long overdue. The current prison phone system allows for corporations to exploit some of the most vulnerable members of our society, forcing families to make incredibly difficult and unfair financial choices just to speak to their loved one on the phone. Congress must pass this common sense legislation and put an end to years of harmful practices. We are pleased to see this legislation has strong bipartisan backing.”

Background

The Martha Reed-Wright Just and Reasonable Communications Act would give the Federal Communications Commission jurisdiction over the cost of local calls to and from incarcerated people, which can be unreasonably high and burdensome for the loved ones of those in prison, and often unjustly benefit corporations and correctional institutions. The Leadership Conference has continuously urged Congress to end these exploitive prison phone rates and it has long supported legislation to end this predatory practice. In 2019, the organization supported S. 1764, the first introduction of the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2019, which also called for reducing excessive charges. 

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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