FCC Votes To Reduce Rates For Prison Phone Calls

For millions of prisoners, placing a call home means paying exorbitant rates that can exceed $1 a minute. Now, federal regulators have moved to ease the burden.

Three commissioners with the Federal Communications Commission voted 2 to 1 Friday to reduce the rates inmates and their families pay for interstate calls from prison, a measure long demanded by civil rights groups. It will take about 120 days for the new rates to take affect.

A typical 15-minute, state-to-state call costs $17 in some states, compared to about $1 in New York, where prison phone rates have already been reformed. That can make communication with family members prohibitively expensive for many inmates.
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