US Court Of Appeals for the DC Circuit Holds that FCC Lacks Authority to Set Rates for Intrastate Inmate Calls

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) lacked the authority to set rates for calls between inmates and people within the same state. The intrastate rate caps were suspended by earlier court decisions and have never gone into effect. Lawyers for prisoners and their families had advocated for the regulation to prevent prohibitively expensive calls which were as high as $14.00 a minute.

For a copy of the opinion, click here.