Many times I made telephone calls from prison, knowing that the person I was calling would be cheated with ludicrous telephone rates. Feeling guilty, I often did not call, or sent money out of my meager prison wages to pay for the call. I’m most pleased to say that we have won that battle.
After a protracted battle to end inordinate charges for phone calls from prison that exceeded $17 for a 15-minute phone, the Federal Communications Commission voted Friday to cap the rate for interstate calls at 25 cents per minutes, meaning 15-minute calls could no longer cost more than $3.25.
The 2-1 FCC decision not only relieves the burden on inmates for whom phone calls are the primary means of contact with loved ones, including young children. It also curbs exploitation of a largely unregulated sector of the phone market, which fostered generous profits and what amounted to legalized kickbacks to states in exchange for lucrative contracts…
Inserted from <Think Progress>