FCC, Others Oppose Oklahoma Inmate Calling Service Stay Bid as Fatally Flawed
The FCC and others opposed an Oklahoma bid to stay inmate calling service (ICS) rules set by the commission capping intrastate rates (see 1602230034). The FCC said Oklahoma officials missed a federal court deadline for stay motions, and hadn't even…
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sought an administrative stay from the commission itself, as the agency said federal appellate procedures generally require. “There is no cause to excuse Oklahoma’s refusal to comply with the obligations set forth by this Court and the Federal rules,” the FCC said Friday in its opposition filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which is reviewing the consolidated case (Global Tel*Link v. FCC, No. 15-1461). The FCC said ICS providers filed stay requests at the FCC, which were denied (see 1601220040), and with the D.C. Circuit, which set a Feb. 5 deadline for any further such requests (see 1602040023); but the Oklahoma officials didn't file their stay request until Feb. 22. Even if the D.C. Circuit considers the Oklahoma stay request, the FCC said the court should deny it because the state was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its underlying challenge, hadn't shown it would suffer irreparable harm absent a stay, and a stay would harm third parties and the public interest. The FCC said it didn't intrude on state authority by capping intrastate rates, but simply implemented sections 276 and 201 of the federal Communications Act to ensure that compensation for interstate and intrastate ICS is fair. The FCC was backed in opposing the Oklahoma stay motion by a filing from the Martha Wright Petitioners, which includes numerous groups and individuals advocating for the ICS rights of inmates and their families. They said it was “implausible that Oklahoma was not aware of the FCC Order in time to have filed a timely motion for stay with the agency.” Meanwhile, the states of Arkansas, Arizona, Kansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada and Wisconsin as well as Indiana sheriffs’ groups filed motions (here and here) seeking to intervene on behalf of Oklahoma.