High ICS Rates Disconnect Families, CPUC Told
California rates are too high for inmate calling services, which are a lifeline for incarcerated people and their families, the California Public Utilities Commission was told at a Wednesday hearing. Those incarcerated and their loved ones dialed in to share how ICS pricing disconnected families. Some suggested charging monthly rates for unlimited usage, while others want the calls free.
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“We’ve opened this rulemaking to address the potential unjust burden on inmates and their families of the inappropriately priced telecommunications services,” said CPUC Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves, who's assigned to the proceeding in docket R.20-10-002. It “results in a racial discrepancy among our population.”
Commissioners plan to vote this summer on an interim decision on reducing intrastate rates, said CPUC Administrative Law Judge Cathleen Fogel. Comments are due Friday on staff’s interim rate relief plan to temporarily adopt FCC 2013 interstate ICS rate caps, or any new caps the FCC adopts, until the CPUC adopts permanent rates (see 2104050032). Possible interstate ICS rate cuts are on the FCC’s tentative May 20 agenda (see 2104280084).
“As we’re becoming better men and trying to evolve, we need access to our families to teach our sons so that they can avoid the troubles that we’ve got into,” said Anthony Salvatierra, who says he has been held at Madera County jail for 3.5 years without a conviction. “The only way to do so is on the telephone, and $15 a call for 15 minutes just isn’t realistic.” Securus calls at the county jail always cost $15, no matter how long it lasts -- even if the call drops, said Salvatierra: "Common sense says that's unfair." The county Department of Corrections didn’t comment Thursday.
Securus is "proud of the role we play in keeping incarcerated individuals connected with their loved ones, and we are continuously working to make our products and services as affordable and accessible as possible," a spokesperson said. "We are renegotiating contracts to remove outliers and lower costs -- including Madera County, where we recently worked with the customer to reduce rates so a 15-minute phone call currently costs less than $5."
High costs disproportionately affect people of color, said Michael Girado, identifying himself as a person of color who was once locked up. His mother had to work two jobs to afford phone calls and travel costs for visiting him, he said. “I understand it is a business, but it does fall on the burdens of our family members.” The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) created “an economic slavery by using phone calls,” said William Palmer, a member of grassroots group All of Us or None who was formerly incarcerated for 31 years. Making calls free would be “a small step,” he said. For inmates, phone calls should be considered "part of their rehabilitation," said Mary Moreno, whose husband has been in state prison for 20 years.
"I know it's a business, but they don't have to be gouging on the pricing,” said Sarah Perez, who says her husband has been in jail for six months. Perez pays $250 a month on daily 15-minute phone calls, she said.
High ICS rates hurt families more during the pandemic, with no in-person visitation allowed, said family members. Frances Merron said she lives on the East Coast and her son is incarcerated in California. It’s expensive to visit more than once a year, and she hasn’t been able to do it even that much due to COVID-19 restrictions, she said. Merron resumed part-time work so she could pay for calls, she said. Another caller, Teresa Johnson, said her incarcerated sister is struggling to keep in touch with her 13-year-old daughter.
Charging on a per-minute basis doesn't make sense in this century, said Natasha Baker, staff attorney for Equal Justice Under Law. “Nobody does that anymore.” Charge instead for the phone line, she suggested. ICS companies are "monopolistic providers" offering “substandard” call quality at “exorbitant” rates, said California Attorneys for Criminal Justice Executive Director Stephen Munkelt. The price "reinforces racist divisions within our society based on the economy and other factors,” he said.
The dial-in hearing wasn’t accessible to inmates, said Andreya, a former inmate who gave only a first name. The meeting began with a 15-minute-plus CPUC presentation and lasted more than two hours.
The commission invites recommendations on “how to do better engagement,” responded Guzman Aceves. “We completely acknowledge this particular method doesn’t work.” Fogel said the agency tried hard to make it possible for incarcerated people to call in and suggested that they write in if they couldn’t call. The CPUC was scheduled to have had a second phone hearing Thursday evening.
A CDCR spokesperson pointed us to its March 1 announcement of lower rates for inmates. Under a six-year contract with Global Tel*Link, calls now cost 2.5 cents per minute, which is a 5.1 cent cut for intrastate call fees and 18.5 cents cheaper on interstate calls, it said. A 15-minute call now costs 37.5 cents. The rate applies to the state's prisons, not county or municipal jails.