Court Strikes Obama-Era Rule Capping Cost of Phone Calls From Prison -
By CECILIA KANGJUNE 13, 2017
WASHINGTON — A federal court on Tuesday struck down regulations
that cap the soaring cost of phone calls made by prison inmates, in another rollback of Obama-era telecommunications rules.
In a 2-1 decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said
that while the rates charged for in-state prison phone calls could be extraordinarily high, the Federal Communications Commission exceeded its legal authority in 2015 when it created rate caps for such calls.
rules were challenged by telecom firms that argued against the F. C.C.’s economic calculations for price caps and told the court
that the agency did not have the authority to regulate the in-state prison phone rates.
advised the court that, due to a change in the composition of the commission, ‘a majority of the current commission does not believe
that the agency has the authority to cap intrastate rates,’” the court’s opinion noted.
