I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2489 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure just and reasonable 

charges for confinement facility communications services, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2021 

Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure just 

and reasonable charges for confinement facility communications services, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Martha Wright Prison 

5 Phone Justice Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Prison, jails, and other confinement facili2 ties in the United States have unique telecommuni3 cations needs due to safety and security concerns. 

4 (2) Unjust and unreasonable charges for tele5 phone and advanced communications services in con6 finement facilities negatively impact the safety and 

7 security of communities in the United States by 

8 damaging relationships between incarcerated persons 

9 and their support systems, thereby exacerbating re10 cidivism. 

11 (3) All people in the United States, including 

12 anyone who pays for confinement facility commu13 nications services, should have access to communica14 tions services at charges that are just and reason15 able. 

16 (4) Certain markets for confinement facility 

17 communications services are distorted due to reverse 

18 competition, in which the financial interests of the 

19 entity making the buying decision (the confinement 

20 facility) are aligned with the seller (the provider of 

21 confinement facility communications services) and 

22 not the consumer (the incarcerated person or a 

23 member of his or her family). This reverse competi24 tion occurs because site commission payments to the 

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1 ment facility communications services are the chief 

2 criterion many facilities use to select their provider 

3 of confinement facility communications services. 

4 (5) Charges for confinement facility commu5 nications services that have been shown to be unjust 

6 and unreasonable are often a result of site commis7 sion payments that far exceed the costs incurred by 

8 the confinement facility in accommodating these 

9 services. 

10 (6) Unjust and unreasonable charges have been 

11 assessed for both audio and video services and for 

12 both intrastate and interstate communications from 

13 confinement facilities. 

14 (7) Mrs. Martha Wright-Reed led a campaign 

15 for just communications rates for incarcerated peo16 ple for over a decade. 

17 (8) Mrs. Wright-Reed was the lead plaintiff in 

18 Wright v. Corrections Corporation of America, CA 

19 No. 00–293 (GK) (D.D.C. 2001). 

20 (9) That case ultimately led to the Wright Peti21 tion at the Federal Communications Commission, 

22 CC Docket No. 96–128 (November 3, 2003). 

23 (10) As a grandmother, Mrs. Wright-Reed was 

24 forced to choose between purchasing medication and 

25 communicating with her incarcerated grandson. 


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1 (11) Mrs. Wright-Reed passed away on Janu2 ary 18, 2015, before fully realizing her dream of just 

3 communications rates for all people. 

4 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR CONFINEMENT FACILITY 

5 COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 276 of the Communica7 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 276) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CONFINE10 MENT FACILITY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—All charges, practices, 

13 classifications, and regulations for and in con14 nection with confinement facility communica15 tions services shall be just and reasonable, and 

16 any such charge, practice, classification, or reg17 ulation that is unjust or unreasonable is de18 clared to be unlawful. 

19 ‘‘(B) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—Not later 

20 than 18 months after the date of the enactment 

21 of this subsection, the Commission shall issue 

22 rules to adopt, for the provision of confinement 

23 facility communications services, rates and an24 cillary service charges that are just and reason25 able, which shall be the maximum such rates 


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1 and charges that a provider of confinement fa2 cility communications services may charge for 

3 such services. In determining rates and charges 

4 that are just and reasonable, the Commission 

5 shall adopt such rates and charges based on the 

6 average industry costs of providing such serv7 ices using data collected from providers of con8 finement facility communications services. 

9 ‘‘(C) BIENNIAL REVIEW.—Not less fre10 quently than every 2 years following the 

11 issuance of rules under subparagraph (B), the 

12 Commission shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) determine whether the rates and 

14 ancillary service charges authorized by the 

15 rules issued under such subparagraph re16 main just and reasonable; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines 

18 under clause (i) that any such rate or 

19 charge does not remain just and reason20 able, revise such rules so that such rate or 

21 charge is just and reasonable. 

22 ‘‘(2) INTERIM RATE CAPS.—Until the Commis23 sion issues the rules required by paragraph (1)(B), 

24 a provider of confinement facility communications 

25 services may not charge a rate for any voice service 


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1 communication using confinement facility commu2 nications services that exceeds the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) For debit calling or prepaid calling, 

4 $0.04 per minute. 

5 ‘‘(B) For collect calling, $0.05 per minute. 

6 ‘‘(3) ASSESSMENT ON PER-MINUTE BASIS.—Ex7 cept as provided in paragraph (4), a provider of con8 finement facility communications services— 

9 ‘‘(A) shall assess all charges for a commu10 nication using such services on a per-minute 

11 basis for the actual duration of the communica12 tion, measured from communication acceptance 

13 to termination, rounded up to the next full 

14 minute, except in the case of charges for serv15 ices that the confinement facility offers free of 

16 charge or for amounts below the amounts per17 mitted under this subsection; and 

18 ‘‘(B) may not charge a per-communication 

19 or per-connection charge for a communication 

20 using such services. 

21 ‘‘(4) ANCILLARY SERVICE CHARGES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—A provider 

23 of confinement facility communications services 

24 may not charge an ancillary service charge 

25 other than— 


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1 ‘‘(i) if the Commission has not yet 

2 issued the rules required by paragraph 

3 (1)(B), a charge listed in subparagraph 

4 (B) of this paragraph; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) a charge authorized by the rules 

6 adopted by the Commission under para7 graph (1). 

8 ‘‘(B) PERMITTED CHARGES AND RATES.— 

9 If the Commission has not yet issued the rules 

10 required by paragraph (1)(B), a provider of 

11 confinement facility communications services 

12 may not charge a rate for an ancillary service 

13 charge in excess of the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) In the case of an automated pay15 ment fee, 2.9 percent of the total charge 

16 on which the fee is assessed. 

17 ‘‘(ii) In the case of a fee for single-call 

18 and related services, the exact transaction 

19 fee charged by the third-party provider, 

20 with no markup. 

21 ‘‘(iii) In the case of a live agent fee, 

22 $5.95 per use. 

23 ‘‘(iv) In the case of a paper bill or 

24 statement fee, $2 per use. 


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1 ‘‘(v) In the case of a third-party fi2 nancial transaction fee, the exact fee, with 

3 no markup, charged by the third party for 

4 the transaction. 

5 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION ON SITE COMMISSIONS.—A 

6 provider of confinement facility communications 

7 services may not assess a site commission. 

8 ‘‘(6) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.—A State 

9 or political subdivision of a State may not enforce 

10 any law, rule, regulation, standard, or other provi11 sion having the force or effect of law relating to con12 finement facility communications services that allows 

13 for higher rates or other charges to be assessed for 

14 such services than is permitted under any Federal 

15 law or regulation relating to confinement facility 

16 communications services. 

17 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

18 ‘‘(A) ANCILLARY SERVICE CHARGE.—The 

19 term ‘ancillary service charge’ means any 

20 charge a consumer may be assessed for the set21 ting up or use of a confinement facility commu22 nications service that is not included in the per23 minute charges assessed for individual commu24 nications. 


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1 ‘‘(B) AUTOMATED PAYMENT FEE.—The 

2 term ‘automated payment fee’ means a credit 

3 card payment, debit card payment, or bill proc4 essing fee, including a fee for a payment made 

5 by means of interactive voice response, the 

6 internet, or a kiosk. 

7 ‘‘(C) COLLECT CALLING.—The term ‘col8 lect calling’ means an arrangement whereby a 

9 credit-qualified party agrees to pay for charges 

10 associated with a communication made to such 

11 party using confinement facility communica12 tions services and originating from within a 

13 confinement facility. 

14 ‘‘(D) CONFINEMENT FACILITY.—The term 

15 ‘confinement facility’— 

16 ‘‘(i) means a jail or a prison; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) includes any juvenile, detention, 

18 work release, or mental health facility that 

19 is used primarily to hold individuals who 

20 are— 

21 ‘‘(I) awaiting adjudication of 

22 criminal charges or an immigration 

23 matter; or 

24 ‘‘(II) serving a sentence for a 

25 criminal conviction. 


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1 ‘‘(E) CONFINEMENT FACILITY COMMU2 NICATIONS SERVICE.—The term ‘confinement 

3 facility communications service’ means a service 

4 that allows incarcerated persons to make elec5 tronic communications (whether intrastate, 

6 interstate, or international and whether made 

7 using video, audio, or any other communicative 

8 method, including advanced communications 

9 services) to individuals outside the confinement 

10 facility, or to individuals inside the confinement 

11 facility, where the incarcerated person is being 

12 held, regardless of the technology used to de13 liver the service. 

14 ‘‘(F) CONSUMER.—The term ‘consumer’ 

15 means the party paying a provider of confine16 ment facility communications services. 

17 ‘‘(G) DEBIT CALLING.—The term ‘debit 

18 calling’ means a presubscription or comparable 

19 service which allows an incarcerated person, or 

20 someone acting on an incarcerated person’s be21 half, to fund an account set up through a pro22 vider that can be used to pay for confinement 

23 facility communications services originated by 

24 the incarcerated person. 


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1 ‘‘(H) FEE FOR SINGLE-CALL AND RE2 LATED SERVICES.—The term ‘fee for single-call 

3 and related services’ means a billing arrange4 ment whereby communications made by an in5 carcerated person using collect calling are billed 

6 through a third party on a per-communication 

7 basis, where the recipient does not have an ac8 count with the provider of confinement facility 

9 communications services. 

10 ‘‘(I) INCARCERATED PERSON.—The term 

11 ‘incarcerated person’ means a person detained 

12 at a confinement facility, regardless of the du13 ration of the detention. 

14 ‘‘(J) JAIL.—The term ‘jail’— 

15 ‘‘(i) means a facility of a law enforce16 ment agency of the Federal Government or 

17 of a State or political subdivision of a 

18 State that is used primarily to hold indi19 viduals who are— 

20 ‘‘(I) awaiting adjudication of 

21 criminal charges; 

22 ‘‘(II) post-conviction and com23 mitted to confinement for sentences of 

24 one year or less; or 


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1 ‘‘(III) post-conviction and await2 ing transfer to another facility; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) includes— 

4 ‘‘(I) city, county, or regional fa5 cilities that have contracted with a 

6 private company to manage day-to7 day operations; 

8 ‘‘(II) privately-owned and oper9 ated facilities primarily engaged in 

10 housing city, county, or regional in11 carcerated persons; and 

12 ‘‘(III) facilities used to detain in13 dividuals pursuant to a contract with 

14 U.S. Immigration and Customs En15 forcement. 

16 ‘‘(K) LIVE AGENT FEE.—The term ‘live 

17 agent fee’ means a fee associated with the op18 tional use of a live operator to complete a con19 finement facility communications service trans20 action. 

21 ‘‘(L) PAPER BILL OR STATEMENT FEE.— 

22 The term ‘paper bill or statement fee’ means a 

23 fee associated with providing a consumer an op24 tional paper billing statement. 


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1 ‘‘(M) PER-COMMUNICATION OR PER-CON2 NECTION CHARGE.—The term ‘per-communica3 tion or per-connection charge’ means a one-time 

4 fee charged to a consumer at the initiation of 

5 a communication. 

6 ‘‘(N) PREPAID CALLING.—The term ‘pre7 paid calling’ means a calling arrangement that 

8 allows a consumer to pay in advance for a spec9 ified amount of confinement facility commu10 nications services. 

11 ‘‘(O) PRISON.—The term ‘prison’— 

12 ‘‘(i) means a facility operated by a 

13 State or Federal agency that is used pri14 marily to confine individuals convicted of 

15 felonies and sentenced to terms in excess 

16 of one year; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) includes— 

18 ‘‘(I) public and private facilities 

19 that provide outsource housing to 

20 State or Federal agencies such as 

21 State Departments of Correction and 

22 the Federal Bureau of Prisons; and 

23 ‘‘(II) facilities that would other24 wise be jails but in which the majority 

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1 viction or are committed to confine2 ment for sentences of longer than one 

3 year. 

4 ‘‘(P) PROVIDER OF CONFINEMENT FACIL5 ITY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.—The term 

6 ‘provider of confinement facility communica7 tions services’ means any communications serv8 ice provider that provides confinement facility 

9 communications services, regardless of the tech10 nology used. 

11 ‘‘(Q) SITE COMMISSION.—The term ‘site 

12 commission’ means any monetary payment, in13 kind payment, gift, exchange of services or 

14 goods, fee, technology allowance, or product 

15 that a provider of confinement facility commu16 nications services or an affiliate of a provider of 

17 confinement facility communications services 

18 may pay, give, donate, or otherwise provide 

19 to— 

20 ‘‘(i) an entity that operates a confine21 ment facility; 

22 ‘‘(ii) an entity with which the provider 

23 of confinement facility communications 

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1 vide confinement facility communications 

2 services; 

3 ‘‘(iii) a governmental agency that 

4 oversees a confinement facility; 

5 ‘‘(iv) the State or political subdivision 

6 of a State where a confinement facility is 

7 located; or 

8 ‘‘(v) an agent or other representative 

9 of an entity described in any of clauses (i) 

10 through (iv). 

11 ‘‘(R) THIRD-PARTY FINANCIAL TRANS12 ACTION FEE.—The term ‘third-party financial 

13 transaction fee’ means the exact fee, with no 

14 markup, that a provider of confinement facility 

15 communications services is charged by a third 

16 party to transfer money or process a financial 

17 transaction to facilitate the ability of a con18 sumer to make an account payment via a third 

19 party. 

20 ‘‘(S) VOICE SERVICE.—The term ‘voice 

21 service’— 

22 ‘‘(i) means any service that is inter23 connected with the public switched tele24 phone network and that furnishes voice 

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1 sources from the North American Num2 bering Plan or any successor to the North 

3 American Numbering Plan adopted by the 

4 Commission under section 251(e)(1); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) includes— 

6 ‘‘(I) transmissions from a tele7 phone facsimile machine, computer, or 

8 other device to a telephone facsimile 

9 machine; and 

10 ‘‘(II) without limitation, any 

11 service that enables real-time, two-way 

12 voice communications, including any 

13 service that requires internet protocol14 compatible customer premises equip15 ment (commonly known as ‘CPE’) 

16 and permits out-bound calling, wheth17 er or not the service is one-way or 

18 two-way voice over internet protocol.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 276(d) of 

20 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 276(d)) is 

21 amended by striking ‘‘inmate telephone service in correc22 tional institutions’’ and inserting ‘‘confinement facility 

23 communications services (as defined in subsection 

24 (e)(7))’’. 

25 (c) EXISTING CONTRACTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a contract 

2 that was entered into and under which a provider of 

3 confinement facility communications services was 

4 providing such services at a confinement facility on 

5 or before the date of the enactment of this Act— 

6 (A) paragraphs (1) through (5) of sub7 section (e) of section 276 of the Communica8 tions Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a) 

9 of this section, shall apply to the provision of 

10 confinement facility communications services by 

11 such provider at such facility beginning on the 

12 earlier of— 

13 (i) the date that is 60 days after such 

14 date of enactment; or 

15 (ii) the date of the termination of the 

16 contract; and 

17 (B) the terms of such contract may not be 

18 extended after such date of enactment, whether 

19 by exercise of an option or otherwise. 

20 (2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 

21 terms ‘‘confinement facility’’, ‘‘confinement facility 

22 communications service’’, and ‘‘provider of confine23 ment facility communications services’’ have the 

24 meanings given such terms in paragraph (7) of sub25 section (e) of section 276 of the Communications 


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1 Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a) of this sec2 tion. 

3 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY. 

4 Section 2(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

5 U.S.C. 152(b)) is amended by inserting ‘‘section 276,’’ 

6 after ‘‘227, inclusive,’’. 

Æ 


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