FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
SEPTEMBER 19, 2022
CONTACT
media@colorofchange.org
70 Grassroots Advocates, Civil Rights, Consumer Rights and Faith-based Organizations Urge Congress to Pass Just and Reasonable Communications Acts to Ensure Incarcerated People and their Loved Ones Can Stay Connected
Washington, D.C. — Today, more than 70 grassroots advocates, civil rights, consumer rights and faith-based organizations issued a joint-letter to congressional leaders urging an immediate House vote on H.R. 2489, the Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act, and S. 1541, the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act, which would ensure incarcerated people can communicate with their loved ones without unjust call rates.
Both H.R. 2489 and S.1541 would restore the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) ability to protect communications between incarcerated people and their loved ones, who often face high phone costs and unjust and predatory commercial practices. The House passed the text of H.R. 2489 last Congress as part of the Heroes Act in 2020, and the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on it last year. The coalition’s letter makes clear that legislation must pass Congress this year and that either bill will get the job done.
High communications costs have serious consequences for those impacted by the carceral system. Children cannot speak with incarcerated parents without sacrificing their financial security or giving up food or medication. Counsel cannot communicate with their clients who are in jail, jeopardizing their civil and due process rights. The passage of these bills would ensure protection against unjust rates by making it harder for companies to take advantage of incarcerated people and their families.
The letter sent to congressional leaders and full list of signatories can be shared upon request.
The signatories of the letter include Color Of Change, Common Cause, Media Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund, Black Women’s Roundtable, American Association of People with Disabilities, Communications Workers of America, The Episcopal Church, Prison Policy Initiative, and dozens of other national and local organizations.
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- Adult Friends for Youth
- Advocates for Change
- American Association of People with Disabilities
- American Friends Service Committee
- American Humanist Association
- Americans for Prosperity
- Arizonans for Rational Sex Offense Laws
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
- Black Women’s Roundtable
- Center for Democracy & Technology
- Center for Responsible Lending
- Church of Scientology National Affairs Office
- Color Of Change
- Colorado-CURE, Inc.
- Common Cause
- Communications Workers of America
- Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
- Crossroads of Iowa
- DC Justice Lab
- Democracy Fund Voice
- The Episcopal Church
- Fight for the Future
- Fines and Fees Justice Center
- Florida FreePat
- FREE! Families Rally for Emancipation and Empowerment
- Free Press Action
- Gellybean’s Prison Out Reach
- Hawai’i Health & Harm Reduction Center
- Hawai‘i Friends of Restorative Justice
- In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda
- Incarcerated Nation Network
- Just Future Project
- Media Alliance
- MediaJustice
- Middle Ground Prison Reform
- More Than Our Crimes
- Muslim Advocates
- Narrative Arts
- National Capital Crime Assistance Network
- National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
- National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients)
- National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA)
- National CURE
- NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
- Oblates of St Francis de Sales
- OpenMedia
- pa. CURE
- Partners in Healthy Communities
- Phoenix Reentry Resources
- Prison Policy Initiative
- The Prison Show
- Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty
- Public Knowledge
- The Real Cost of Prisons Project
- RIHD, INC
- SMU Human Rights Program
- Soul Solutions LLC
- Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund
- Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI)
- Titus House Ministries
- T J W Family Charitable Foundation
- Union for Reform Judaism
- United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry
- Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center
- UV4SOR
- Vermont CURE
- Virginia Justice for Life
- Voqual
- The Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
- Worth Rises