Campaign for Prison Phone Justice

"No one should be told that their love is too expensive." An affected single mother speaks out against the high cost of phone calls to her incarcerated husband. This is particularly worrisome, because he already suffers from issues with his health. The inability to communicate has left her feeling helpless and frustrated.

Joyce is disabled and on a very tight budget and cannot afford to take calls from her two incarcerated sons. She is worried about them being "alone" and asks if there is a way to make the calls affordable for "normal people."

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn championed prison phone justice and won a historic vote at the Federal Communications Commission.

What would you pay to hear the voice of an imprisoned loved one? Almost anything, right? The telecoms know it. Sign the petition that we will deliver to the Federal Communications C...

The Federal Communications Commission is planning on taking action on prison phone calls within states. Join the campaign for prison phone justice: www.phonejustice.org...

Chicagoan Greg Gaither, who worked for years in Illinois youth detention facilities, explains why phone calls are so "pivotal" to communication with families. He argues strongly that corrections departments and phone companies should not profit at the expense of the families of the incarcerated....

www.phonejustice.org...

On July 9, 2014, Paul Wright and Alex Friedmann from the Human Rights Defense Center/Prison Legal News provided testimony to the FCC regarding the lowering of intrastate (in -state) prison phone rates.  Please click the attached video to view the entire broadcast. ...

Families with members in the prison system are already struggling. ...

It's a cliffhanger. For a decades now, prisoner families have dug deep into their pocketbooks, sometimes putting themselves deep in debt to talk to their loved ones languishing in prisons. Keeping the kids in touch with Mom or Dad was worth the sacrifice. That's in large part because it...

A mother in Virginia lays out the case for affordable prison phone calls.

After attending the "Call Me (Come Back Home): Fighting the Cost of Prison Calls, Part 1 & Part 2" poet Rebecca Preston began processing this poem-in-progress at the National Conference for Media Reform. Watch this beautiful mind go!...

Whatever your story is we need you to share it? Do you think the cost of prison phone calls makes your community safer? Have you been directly impacted by high-costs? We need to know. Call now at ...

A woman calls in to talk about the rates she paid ten years ago and her concern for families, and specifically children, being cut off from their loved ones.

HEARD interns Rita Torres & Alexandre Dubsky explain how the Community can support equal communication access for all deaf, hard of hearing, speech impaired prisoners and their family members. On December 28, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Notice of Propos...

On Friday February 1st, 60 people attended a public hearing on prison telephone rates in New York City co-hosted by Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the Campaign for Prison Phone Justice. Take action: ...

My boyfriend has been incarcerated for about 20 years now. We've known each other for 13 of those years. I am very familiar with the collect calls and how expensive they can be. I was spending 200-300 a month before. Now they do the prepaid calling and it's really no better. I have heard and s...

Melissa shares her experience with the impact of prison phone calls on her life during her husband's seven years of incarceration.

A sister describes her experience taking care of her incarcerated brother's teenage son, and her own young child, while only 24 years old. Years later the experience of being separated and divided by the high-cost of prison phone calls still impacts their family.

STOP THE OBVIOUS BUREAUCRATIC LOOP HOLE EACH STATE HAS DEMONSTRATED THEY WILL EXPLOIT AND TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF!!!! How could you as a national regulator NOT intervene when each and every single state has taken advantage of, exploited, and monopolized on the obvious loophole and conflict ...

Now is the time to share your stories and experiences with the Federal Communications Commission. We have made it easy!...

Video from Mrs. Martha Wright's visit to the FCC....

A wife tells her story about the struggle to stay in touch with her husband. ...

A Louisiana mother of an inmate calls in to share her story. She spends 25.00 for three calls from him a week. She hopes that someone in LA hears her story and understands the impact the cost has on families.  Families want to make sure that their loved ones are ok. ...

New York Times editorial urges the FCC to pass the Wright Petition and charge reasonable rates for prison phone calls.

Recently the Strong Families Safe Communities rally hosted by the Campaign for Prison Phone Justice, the Federal Communications Commission announced they would be moving forward on a further notice of proposed rulemaking on the exorbitant costs of prison phone calls, also known as the Wright Petition.

A mother in California shares her experience with the cost of calls using Global Tel*Link. ...

Louisiana's public service commissioners are fighting to make families stronger by reducing prices on collect calls from parish jail and state prison inmates.

Calls from folks around the country sharing their stories about the impact the high cost of prison phone calls have on their families. ...

Check out these photos from the Rally at the FCC.

On November 15th, around 75 people gathered from across state lines and political beliefs to rally for "Strong Families, Safe Communities."

Washington DC- Today, at a rally for fair prison phone rates, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn announced that Chairman Genachowski has begun circulating a further notice of proposed rulemaking for a vote. This marked the first step forward in a ten- year effort to make the price of inter-state calls from prison affordable.

The first prisoners sent to fill our supermax prisons came directly from Washington, DC.

The Campaign for Prison Phone Justice is telling an “untold story”. The story of families who deserve better than to have to pay companies like Global Tel Link $14 for a 15 minute phone call.

Actor, Jason Mewes reenacts the true story of his school project, "My Mom Is..." How hard is it for one kid to talk to his Mom when she's in jail? Watch to his story and participate in the campaign. ...

Join the Campaign for Prison Phone Justice, civil rights leaders, prisoner families and elected officials as we come together for fair phone rates for prisoners and their families.

On October 3, 2012, Global Tel Link (GTL) filed an ex parte presentation with the FCC. On October 8, 2012, the Human Rights Defense Center spoke back.

Pablo Tapia, Assembly of Civil Rights in Minneapolis Minnesota, talks about what the Campaign for Prison Phone Justice means for him and his family. The Campaign for Prison Phone Justice is challenging prison phone kickbacks and the U.S. Prison Telephone Industry. Currently, up to 60% of t...

Ava DuVernay's Middle of Nowhere chronicles a woman's separation from her incarcerated husband and her journey to maintain her marriage and her identity. The Wright to Call Home campaign centers on urging the FCC to pass the Wright petition and make prison phone calls affordable for all families. It...

Luisa's 14-year-old son was sentenced as an adult and sent to prison. Since then she has sent countless letters to him but can rarely hear his voice due to the predatory phone rates charged in the United States prison system. ...

“Do you remember the 21st night of September? Love was changing the mind of pretenders. While chasing the clouds away.” -Earth Wind & Fire

FCC Consumer Advisory Committee Issues Recommendation Regarding Affordable Phone Access for Incarcerated Individuals and Families

This morning, as we headed into a meeting with the FCC, the New York Times ran an editorial titled “Costly Phone Calls for Inmates” supporting the campaign’s position.

When I was 16 my dad was in prison. Without our calls, I wouldn't have known he missed us. I was sixteen when my father went to prison on a felony charge. I had known that he was a cocaine addict from the age of about 7 or 8, but I never imagined it would lead to incarceration. The range o...

During the month of August, phone justice delegations in West Virginia, New York and California met with staff from the offices of Sen. Rockefeller, Rep. Clarke and Rep. Lee to secure letters addressed to FCC Chairman Genachowski.

Check out the response from FCC Chairman Genachowski to our Twitter action.

On September 4, Center for Media Justice along with a group of organizations representing the civil rights, criminal reform, legal and public interest sectors met with the Chairman of the FCC.

Earlier this summer, we sat with Mrs. Martha Wright, of the Wright Petition, in her Northeast D.C. home and spoke with her about her decade-long struggle to win justice for prisoner families abused by telecommunication companies. Shocked by the exorbitant bills she was getting for accepting collect ...

A delegation of organizations from the New York area met with Rep. Yvette Clarke (Brooklyn) to discuss the high cost of receiving a phone call from a prison, jail or detention center.

A delegation of organizations from Charleston met with Senator Jay Rockefeller’s staff to discuss the high cost of receiving a phone call from a prison, jail or detention center.

A delegation of organizations from the California Bay Area met with the Deputy District Director of Congresswoman Barbara Lee to discuss the high cost of receiving a phone call from a prison, jail or detention center.

Recently, the FCC has received hundreds of letters from prisoners across the country asking Chairman Genachowski for action on the Wright petition, which calls on the agency to provide a solution for exorbitant prison phone rates.

The FCC has received hundreds of letters from prisoners across the country asking Chairman Genachowski for action on the Wright petition.

A listening circle can provide another way for communities to generate a meaningful community dialogue about criminal justice issues and can be used to emerge the cost of prison phone calls in your community.

The Campaign for Prison Phone Justice hosted two actions around Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to expose the real victims of predatory phone call rates.

An important public hearing on exorbitant prison phone call rates is coming up in Massachusetts on July 19, 2012.

Update: On Wednesday, June 20th we flooded the FCC with phone calls demanding the passage of the Wright Petition. We still need your support.

A caller describes the cost of the calls and her desire to help her family friends, but she cannot afford the cost of the calls. Twenty dollars does not last two phone calls. Why does it cost so much? ...

Colorlines ran a great article "The Criminal Cost of Talking to a Loved One Behind Bars," which included powerful and useful graphics for the campaign.

Groups from across the political spectrum join together in a letter to the FCC urging the Commission to cap interstate prison phone rates.

by Kristi Black Solwazi, Deputy Director, Center for Media Justice

Mother’s Day is a time to cherish the special connections in our families.

Mother’s Day is a time to cherish the special connections in our families. Yet for the over 2 million people in our prison system, those connections are only maintained through a phone.

The Center for Media Justice is excited to bring you: “Criminal Charges: Fighting For Your Right to Call Home” a toolkit designed for prisoners, families, activists and organizers to address the high cost of prison phone calls.

Staying connected with loved ones behind bars is an expense that many families struggle with today. Aside from exorbitant phone rates charged by private companies who provide phone services to prisons, families are also charged excessive amounts for money transfers and Email.

Issues surrounding phone service to prisoners and other detainees were highlighted at a June 24 workshop at the 2011 Allied Media Conference in Detroit.

Supporters of Michigan prisoners and families are organizing a protest in Lansing over the new phone rates.

Imagine if this was how your daughter had to talk with you.

An exhaustive analysis of prison phone contracts nationwide has revealed that telephone service providers offer lucrative kickbacks.

A caller from the United States Social Forum talks about the importance of keeping in touch with those in prison. ...