FCC Defends Inmate Calling Order at D.C. Circuit
An FCC order to increase inmate calling service rate caps “was not gamesmanship but responsible decisionmaking,” said DOJ and the FCC in joint opposition Thursday to a Sept. 30 Securus motion to stay at the U.S. Court of Appeals for…
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the D.C. Circuit. The FCC denied petitions to stay the order (see 1609300054). “The petitioners fail to meet their burden to justify a stay,” the FCC told the court. “In the Order under review, the agency found that the inmate calling rate caps, as now modified, fairly account for the costs incurred by inmate calling providers and correctional facilities in furnishing inmate calling services. To whatever extent providers or facilities may lose revenue under the Order, the FCC reasonably determined that ensuring fair compensation for inmate calls does not obligate the agency to rubber stamp rates at levels above and beyond the legitimate costs of providing service, including reasonable payments to correctional facilities and a reasonable rate of return for providers. And the possibility of lost revenue to providers and facilities is far outweighed by the harm to the public interest that would result from a stay of the Order -- in particular to inmates and their families, who have for far too long been constrained to pay exorbitant inmate calling rates.”