Broadband Breakfast reports…

A coalition of 11 attorneys general is urging a federal appeals court to uphold a Federal Communications Commission order that drastically reduced the cost of phone and video calls for incarcerated individuals and their families.

In an amicus brief filed Monday with the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the AGs said the FCC acted squarely within its authority when it issued its July 2024 order capping calling rates in prisons and jails.

The FCC was expressly authorized to regulate these communications services when Congress enacted the Martha Wright-Reed Act in 2022, the brief said.

Under the FCC’s rate caps, the cost of a 15-minute phone call dropped from as much as $11.35 to $0.90 in large jails and from $12.10 to $1.35 in small jails. The rules went into effect for large prisons and jails on Jan. 1, 2025 and for small jails on April 1.

The rules were adopted under former FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel with the partial support of now Chairman Brendan Carr and the full support of Republican Commissioner Nathan Simington.

In a release, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, D, said staying connected to loved ones and a support system while in prison was one of the best ways to reduce recidivism and support successful rehabilitation later on.

Bonta was joined by the AGs of nine other states and the District of Columbia. The states are New York, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

Five of the states – California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Colorado – have already implemented policies to provide free phone calls for incarcerated individuals in state-run correctional facilities. However, those rates may not apply to local adult jails and federal prisons within the states.