A mother of a former WA prisoner and plaintiff of Judd v. AT&T writes the FCC, asking for relief for out-of-state families of WA prisoners
A dozen years ago, Zuraya Wright and others filed a class action lawsuit against AT&T, alleging that prison phone companies would not disclose the exorbitant rates of prison calls from WA prisons. (Zuraya is not related to Martha Wright of the “Wright Petition,” but she is the mother of Paul Wright, director of the Human Rights Defense Center!)
The claims of Zuraya and other interstate call recipients were dismissed, but the case for in-state call recipients continued. Earlier this month, a $45 million settlement was reached, to be paid out to people who received calls from WA prisoners between 1996 and 2000 while living in WA.
On December 28, 2012 the Federal Communications Commission announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the Wright Petition to make the cost of prison phone calls affordable. We are now in the midst of a comment period, where people are being asked to write to the FCC to let them know about their experiences with the prison phone system.
Today, Zuraya Wright submitted a comment sharing her experience with prison phones, noting that – as an interstate call recipient – she will not receive any benefit from the settlement, and urging the FCC to act.
You too can submit a filing on the Wright Petition to lower the cost of prison phone calls. Make sure you use Proceeding #12-375.
There are other ways to take action through the Campaign for Prison Phone Justice website!
Let’s keep the momentum going!
*Cross-posted on Campaign for Prison Phone Justice.