The Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday that it was imposing a national mandate that will dramatically reduce the cost of phone calls between inmates and people from the outside.
The FCC said the rates had been excessive, with “egregious fees” that sometimes raised the cost of those calls by 40 percent.
The spokesman for a prisoner advocacy group said the order is great news for Maine prisoners.
“Maine phone rates were among the highest in the country at 25 cents a minute, a far cry from the two-and-a-half cents per minute the MDOC pays,” said Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition Coordinator Joseph Jackson. “MPAC still believes there is a great deal of money siphoned from prisoners’ families, as the phone rates show. MPAC will continue to work with the MDOC to ensure some of the profit is being used for rehabilitative programs.”
Maine Corrections Deputy Commissioner Jody Breton said Thursday that the department has been watching the FCC case and was expecting the results.
Breton said the department intends to solicit requests for proposals for a new contract to provide phone service to prisoners. She said the department was waiting for the FCC ruling first so that companies would have the parameters in which to make their proposals.
Currently, the average cost in Maine of a 15-minute, in-state, long-distance, prepaid phone call from a family member to a prisoner is $5.30, according to the FCC. The FCC’s new rate cap cuts that cost by 69 percent, to $1.65. The FCC also cut the existing cap on interstate long-distance calls by half, bringing the cost of a 15-minute interstate long-distance call to $1.65.
“The FCC has a mandate to ensure that rates for all phone calls are just, reasonable and fair for all Americans, and that includes the families and loved ones of inmates,” stated FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn in a news release. “Easing the financial burden on these families is not only the compassionate thing to do, it’s the right thing to do.”
The FCC commissioner who led the effort to reduce the costs said multiple studies have shown that having meaningful contact beyond the prison walls can make a real difference in maintaining community ties, promoting rehabilitation and reducing recidivism.
“The FCC’s action is one small piece that could make a big difference on criminal justice reform,” Clyburn said.
Based on data collected by the FCC, the order adopted by the FCC caps the rate for all local and long-distance calls from state and federal prisons nationwide at 11 cents per minute, while providing tiered rates to account for the higher cost of serving jails and smaller institutions. The cap fully covers the costs of providing the security required for inmate calling, and allows providers a reasonable return, the news release states.