According to the criteria of
- Callers in large jails who use a single call service option to place a 15-minute audio call, They will pay US$0.90 instead of US$11.35as was happening until now.
- Callers in a small jail who use a one-call service to make a 15-minute audio call They will pay US$1.35 instead of US$12.10.
- Leaving behind Virginia’s regional prison system, in which video calls have a flat rate of US$15 for a video call of up to 25 minutes, they will seek to apply a new lower video rate cap ($0.11 per minute), which would cost consumers $2.75.
This vote of the FCC will take place on July 18, as they say in the statement, to “End exorbitant phone and video call rates that have burdened incarcerated people and their families for decades.” Beyond those who celebrated this measure, as is often the case with changes that occur in prisons, There was controversy and discussion about this modification in costs.
The consequences of high prison fees for prisoners in the United States
This initiative by the FCC came in response to the incessant requests that had recently come from a coalition of organizations, which sent a letter to the agency calling for the reduction of fee costs to care for the well-being of prisoners.
“Exorbitant costs and fees increase depression, isolation and loneliness among incarcerated peopleactively harming them instead of providing them with any discernible benefit,” they said in the message, which was one of the initial kicks for seeking to approve this new regulation.
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