Regulating the prison phone industry

Some children have to pay $1/minute to talk to an incarcerated parent. Why? Because prisons and jails profit by granting monopoly telephone contracts to the company that will charge families the most.

For more than ten years, families had been calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide relief from the exorbitant bills that the prison phone companies charge just to stay in touch. Recognizing yet another way that mass incarceration punishes entire communities, the Prison Policy Initiative joined with partners across the country to help generate the research and advocacy that was necessary for change.

We’ve won some real victories at the FCC, we’re fighting the industry’s lawsuit against fair regulation, and keeping this industry and the perverse incentives it offers the sheriffs in the news.

On this page:

• our two major reports

• our 25 major briefings to the FCC

• our video

• reports from our organizing work

• highlights of the press coverage about our work

• our blog posts on the topic

• other great press coverage

• and links to our allies in this movement.