Democrats slam FCC’s decision to ‘gut’ prison phone call price caps

Senate Democrats are urging the Federal Communications Commission to enforce a rule that would lower the price of prison phone and video calls. In a letter to FCC Chair Brendan Carr, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), among others, criticize the agency’s efforts to “effectively gut” a final rule to implement a cap on exorbitant fees.

The letter comes just hours before the FCC’s open meeting, where the agency is set to propose new rules surrounding how much incarcerated people and their loved ones will have to pay for phone calls from prison.

In June, the FCC announced that it would delay the implementation of the Martha Wright-Reed law, a rule that gives the FCC the ability to regulate prison phone calls. Carr — who partiall