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The FCC has voted to end exorbitant phone fees for prison inmates

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Re: The FCC has voted to end exorbitant phone fees for prison inmates

#3
> The reform passed 3:2 along partisan lines, with the appointed Democrat commissioners voting in favor, and Republicans against.

it's kind of terrifying to think that a single republican in the wrong place could have blocked a measure affecting millions of people.

Re: The FCC has voted to end exorbitant phone fees for prison inmates

#5
post #3

> The reform passed 3:2 along partisan lines, with the appointed Democrat commissioners voting in favor, and Republicans against. it's kind of terrifying to think that a single republican in the wrong place could have blocked a measure affecting millions of people.

It's just odd on its face that so many of these decisions, which absolutely have an otherwise legislative character, are being made by the executive branch.

Re: The FCC has voted to end exorbitant phone fees for prison inmates

#6
I don't understand why the Republicans voted against.

Look, I get it, you support private industry. But let's remember context, you support capitalism where COMPETITION exists, in this situation it is an artificially created monopoly of one company.

Now if they had an alternative proposal that required prisons to have two or more vendors, I'd be totally onboard with not setting an artificial price restriction. Since hopefully competition will provide the market price.

Essentially they have lost the forest for the trees. Yes government weighing into capitalism is "bad" but government already allowed that by removing competition, so this is a correction of that existing issue.

The article touched on the whole video conferencing thing... It is absolutely criminal that jails restrict actual visitation for the purposes of then charging prisoners to use their video conferencing system (sometimes which requires the family to physically visit the prison, thus making it even more farcical).

The whole private prison thing makes me want to vomit.

Re: The FCC has voted to end exorbitant phone fees for prison inmates

#7
Get the God phone, nigger. Fuck mortals.

Swiss cheese phone?

God says...

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Re: The FCC has voted to end exorbitant phone fees for prison inmates

#9

I don't understand why the Republicans voted against. Look, I get it, you support private industry. But let's remember context, you support capitalism where COMPETITION exists, in this situation it is an artificially created monopoly of one company. Now if they had an alternative proposal that required prisons to have two or more vendors, I'd be totally onboard with not setting an artificial price restriction. Since…

> The whole private prison thing makes me want to vomit.

Muckrock (shoutout to @morisey) is doing an investigative piece on private prisons. If possible, please think about contributing $10-20 on it.

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2015/sep/18/justice-s...

Re: The FCC has voted to end exorbitant phone fees for prison inmates

#10
Not to be the naysayer on this but it is a very serious incursion on states rights. The legal consensus i'm hearing is that it will be overturned by the judicial system.

Does the FCC have the right to tell a state or town what to do with local calls? That is the root of this. It's a given that they can regulate interstate, but historically intrastate has been the rights of the states.

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