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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

FCC to consider further cutting cost of calls for inmates

Heather Hollingsworth Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Federal Communications Commission is moving to further limit how much companies can charge for phone calls made from jails and prisons, capping rates on all types of calls.

Two years ago, under pressure from the families of the more than 2 million people incarcerated in the U.S., the FCC voted to restrict rates on inmate calls made from one state to another. The proposed changes, likely getting a vote Oct. 22, would go further, capping rates on all local, in-state long distance, interstate and international calls beginning early next year. That would mean the vast majority of inmate calls would cost no more than $1.65 for 15 minutes. And fees and other costs, which in some cases have boosted calls to $17 to $25 for 15 minutes, also would be limited.

Inmates’ families usually are stuck with the bills and they and defense attorneys have fought for more than a decade for the changes. But phone companies have defended the costs, saying the calls require costly security features.

Chris Hoke, who ministers to inmates and gang members in a community 55 miles north of Seattle, said he can’t afford to take many of their calls because he would be charged “exorbitantly.” Lowered rates, he said, would let him “give more pastoral care to some of the most hurting people in our community.”