Federal appeals court partially blocks FCC rules cutting cost of prison phone calls
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As a lawsuit continues seeking to overturn new Federal Communications Commission rules cutting the cost prisoners pay for phone calls, a federal appeals court has partially stayed the imposition of the new rules.
The Hill provides a copy of the order (PDF) on Monday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The order had cut prison telephone rates for local or long-distance calls down to 11 cents per minute from rates as high as $14 per minute Reuters reported. However, the elimination of certain ancillary fees will still take effect.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said in a joint statement: “While we regret that relief from high inmate calling rates will be delayed for struggling families and their 2.7 million children trying to stay in touch with a loved one, we are gratified that costly and burdensome ancillary charges will come to an end. These fees can increase the cost to consumers of a call by nearly 40 percent.”
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “ABA applauds a new FCC rule seeking to hold down telephone rates charged to prison inmates”
