Court Strikes Obama-Era Rule Capping Cost of Phone Calls From Prison

Washington - The federal court on Tuesday refused to regulate prisoners' telephone charges. This is another rollback of the Telecommunications Regulations of the Obama era.

In the decision of 1 February, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia District Court stated that the Federal Communication Commission exceeded the statutory authority at the time when it was enacted in 2015, although the rate of convocation to the prison in the province is very high It was. Rate limiting for this type of call

This decision hurt the 15-year effort by prisoners and their supporters to reduce prison telephone bills by up to $ 10 per minute. These phones are usually made through private telecommunications companies.

The F.C.C. rule was questioned by telecommunications companies that opposed the F.C.C. economic calculation of the price limit and was told to the court that government authorities are not authorized to regulate state prison telephone charges.

The agency was preparing to legally obey its rules, but when President Cardinal appointed Ajit Pai as president of F.C.C, his work was suddenly stopped. Mr. Pai said in February the lawyer would not argue in court to defend their rules.

"After the president appointed in January 2017, the Federal Communications Commission attorney notified the court that the authorities believe that the authorities do not have the authority to limit the tax rates within the state, due to changes in the composition of the committee "Said.

Since he was appointed, Mr. Bai has accused the overthrow of the Obama administration rule at FC. He is revoking multiple media ownership rules, reversing network neutrality rules, and requesting Internet service providers to grant equal access to all Internet content.

As a free market oriented regulatory authority, Mr. Pai has always been thinking that it is necessary to overturn the strict rules set by his predecessor.

As a member, Mr. Pai opposed the prison telephone rate provision of 2015. He said on Tuesday in a statement he will work with Congress and members of other FC. Resolve a phone call to a high prison "in a legitimate way".

Mignon Cliveburn, the only Democratic party member, was the main supporter of prison phone billing restrictions.

She calls the soaring price of the telephone fee a civil rights issue, preventing a prisoner from calling at least one imprisoned parent to call the US 7 million children.

Clyburn said in a statement, "This is the most serious form of regulatory misconduct I have experienced in the telecommunications field over 18 years."

The new FCC regulation recently calculated the debit or prepaid calling charges from governors and federal prisons from 11 cents per minute. For 15 - minute state calls and 15 - minute long distance calls, the current cost limit is $ 1.65. This provision is deemed necessary because prisoners are using this unregulated market and detained customers to charge up to $ 14 per minute or $ 500 per month to call lawyers and families I will. Unfortunately, even this measure did not last long. At the time of writing, the rules still exist. This means that it was effectively overturned and, to be told, the telephone company complained that it "hurt" by the price limit.

The Federal Court of Appeal has enacted several rules designed to limit the prices of some prisoners calling prisoners. The US District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia declared that the Federal Communications Commission had no authority to set up telephone charges with prisoners and people in the same state. Companies offering prison telephone service are appealing to interfere with the FCC regulations of 2015. State cap rate designed to prevent higher commissions between prisoners and people in the same state was suspended by former court ruling and never took effect

In the decision of 1 February, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia District Court stated that the Federal Communication Commission exceeded the statutory authority at the time when it was enacted in 2015, although the rate of convocation to the prison in the province is very high It was. The maximum rate of such calls. "After taking office as president in January 2017, the FCC's attorney's court changed the composition of the committee," Most of the current committee thinks that the institution has authority to restrict housing prices There is no. "