| Friend,
We’re writing with exciting news: Today a bill that would curb the abusive rates of prison-phone companies has a hearing in the House of Representatives!
Prison-phone rates are astronomical and deeply unjust. Many families simply can’t afford these sky-high rates. Some families with incarcerated loved ones have spent up to $1 per minute — with a third of families reporting they went into debt trying to afford those rates — just to stay in touch.1
For the 2.7-million children with an incarcerated parent, this can mean forgoing phone calls that could help them maintain healthy relationships. The ability to maintain regular contact strengthens an incarcerated person’s ability to build and maintain connections with their communities. Staying connected bolsters support structures for incarcerated people and improves their reentry outcomes.
It’s critical that your members of Congress hear from you today. Tell them to pass phone-justice legislation that would outlaw predatory prison-phone rates and help keep families connected.
Former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn spent her career at the agency fighting to stop prison-phone companies from exploiting incarcerated people and their families. During her time at the FCC, she helped implement a rule that would have capped the cost of prison-phone calls to and from jails, prisons and detention centers. Then, after a legal challenge from the prison-phone companies, a court decision derailed decades-long FCC efforts to take action.
Now there’s hope for change. The Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act and the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act would bring phone justice for millions of families. Tell Congress to support this legislation.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Rep. Bobby Rush, both Democratic lawmakers from Illinois, have each reintroduced legislation that would clarify that the FCC has the legal authority to stop the predatory behaviors of prison-phone corporations — opening the door for millions of families to connect.
The bills are both named in honor of Martha Wright-Reed, a champion in the fight for prison-phone justice. For more than 20 years, Mrs. Wright-Reed fought for affordable prison-phone rates as phone calls were the only way she could stay in touch with the grandson she raised and loved.
Tell your lawmakers to support the Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act in the House and the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act in the Senate.
We’ve still got a lot of work to do to pass these bills through Congress. Your voice could help connect families who’ve been torn apart by predatory prison-phone companies.
Thanks for all you do,
Heather, Lucia, Leo and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net
P.S. You can help stop abusive prison-phone rates that make it difficult — sometimes impossible — for families to connect. Urge Congress to pass phone-justice legislation today.
1. “State of Phone Justice: Local Jails, State Prisons and Private Phone Providers,” Prison Policy Initiative; “Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families,” Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, September 2015 2. "Prison Phone Justice Is a Gender Justice Issue: The Legacy of Mrs. Martha Wright-Reed," MediaJustice, March 8, 2019 |
