Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6389 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 MARCH 25, 2020 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 commu- nications services, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Martha Wright Prison 4 Phone Justice Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6389 IH (1) Prison, jails, and other confinement facili- 1 ties in the United States have unique telecommuni- 2 cations needs due to safety and security concerns. 3 (2) Unjust and unreasonable charges for tele- 4 phone and advanced communications services in con- 5 finement facilities negatively impact the safety and 6 security of communities in the United States by 7 damaging relationships between incarcerated persons 8 and their support systems, thereby exacerbating re- 9 cidivism. 10 (3) All people in the United States, including 11 anyone who pays for confinement facility commu- 12 nications services, should have access to communica- 13 tions services at charges that are just and reason- 14 able. 15 (4) Certain markets for confinement facility 16 communications services are distorted due to reverse 17 competition, in which the financial interests of the 18 entity making the buying decision (the confinement 19 facility) are aligned with the seller (the provider of 20 confinement facility communications services) and 21 not the consumer (the incarcerated person or a 22 member of his or her family). This reverse competi- 23 tion occurs because site commission payments to the 24 confinement facility from the provider of confine- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6389 IH ment facility communications services are the chief 1 criterion many facilities use to select their provider 2 of confinement facility communications services. 3 (5) Charges for confinement facility commu- 4 nications services that have been shown to be unjust 5 and unreasonable are often a result of site commis- 6 sion payments that far exceed the costs incurred by 7 the confinement facility in accommodating these 8 services. 9 (6) Unjust and unreasonable charges have been 10 assessed for both audio and video services and for 11 both intrastate and interstate communications from 12 confinement facilities. 13 (7) Mrs. Martha Wright-Reed led a campaign 14 for just communications rates for incarcerated peo- 15 ple for over a decade. 16 (8) Mrs. Wright-Reed was the lead plaintiff in 17 Wright v. Corrections Corporation of America, CA 18 No. 00–293 (GK) (D.D.C. 2001). 19 (9) That case ultimately led to the Wright Peti- 20 tion at the Federal Communications Commission, 21 CC Docket No. 96–128 (November 3, 2003). 22 (10) As a grandmother, Mrs. Wright-Reed was 23 forced to choose between purchasing medication and 24 communicating with her incarcerated grandson. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6389 IH (11) Mrs. Wright-Reed passed away on Janu- 1 ary 18, 2015, before fully realizing her dream of just 2 communications rates for all people. 3 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR CONFINEMENT FACILITY 4 COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 276 of the Communica- 6 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 276) is amended by adding 7 at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CONFINE- 9 MENT FACILITY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.— 10 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—All charges, practices, 12 classifications, and regulations for and in con- 13 nection with confinement facility communica- 14 tions services shall be just and reasonable, and 15 any such charge, practice, classification, or reg- 16 ulation that is unjust or unreasonable is de- 17 clared to be unlawful. 18 ‘‘(B) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—Not later 19 than 18 months after the date of the enactment 20 of this subsection, the Commission shall issue 21 rules to adopt, for the provision of confinement 22 facility communications services, rates and an- 23 cillary service charges that are just and reason- 24 able, which shall be the maximum such rates 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6389 IH and charges that a provider of confinement fa- 1 cility communications services may charge for 2 such services. In determining rates and charges 3 that are just and reasonable, the Commission 4 shall adopt such rates and charges based on the 5 average industry costs of providing such serv- 6 ices using data collected from providers of con- 7 finement facility communications services. 8 ‘‘(C) BIENNIAL REVIEW.—Not less fre- 9 quently than every 2 years following the 10 issuance of rules under subparagraph (B), the 11 Commission shall— 12 ‘‘(i) determine whether the rates and 13 ancillary service charges authorized by the 14 rules issued under such subparagraph re- 15 main just and reasonable; and 16 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines 17 under clause (i) that any such rate or 18 charge does not remain just and reason- 19 able, revise such rules so that such rate or 20 charge is just and reasonable. 21 ‘‘(2) INTERIM RATE CAPS.—Until the Commis- 22 sion issues the rules required by paragraph (1)(B), 23 a provider of confinement facility communications 24 services may not charge a rate for any voice service 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6389 IH communication using confinement facility commu- 1 nications services that exceeds the following: 2 ‘‘(A) For debit calling or prepaid calling, 3 $0.04 per minute. 4 ‘‘(B) For collect calling, $0.05 per minute. 5 ‘‘(3) ASSESSMENT ON PER-MINUTE BASIS.—Ex- 6 cept as provided in paragraph (4), a provider of con- 7 finement facility communications services— 8 ‘‘(A) shall assess all charges for a commu- 9 nication using such services on a per-minute 10 basis for the actual duration of the communica- 11 tion, measured from communication acceptance 12 to termination, rounded up to the next full 13 minute, except in the case of charges for serv- 14 ices that the confinement facility offers free of 15 charge or for amounts below the amounts per- 16 mitted under this subsection; and 17 ‘‘(B) may not charge a per-communication 18 or per-connection charge for a communication 19 using such services. 20 ‘‘(4) ANCILLARY SERVICE CHARGES.— 21 ‘‘(A) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—A provider 22 of confinement facility communications services 23 may not charge an ancillary service charge 24 other than— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6389 IH ‘‘(i) if the Commission has not yet 1 issued the rules required by paragraph 2 (1)(B), a charge listed in subparagraph 3 (B) of this paragraph; or 4 ‘‘(ii) a charge authorized by the rules 5 adopted by the Commission under para- 6 graph (1). 7 ‘‘(B) PERMITTED CHARGES AND RATES.— 8 If the Commission has not yet issued the rules 9 required by paragraph (1)(B), a provider of 10 confinement facility communications services 11 may not charge a rate for an ancillary service 12 charge in excess of the following: 13 ‘‘(i) In the case of an automated pay- 14 ment fee, 2.9 percent of the total charge 15 on which the fee is assessed. 16 ‘‘(ii) In the case of a fee for single-call 17 and related services, the exact transaction 18 fee charged by the third-party provider, 19 with no markup. 20 ‘‘(iii) In the case of a live agent fee, 21 $5.95 per use. 22 ‘‘(iv) In the case of a paper bill or 23 statement fee, $2 per use. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6389 IH ‘‘(v) In the case of a third-party fi- 1 nancial transaction fee, the exact fee, with 2 no markup, charged by the third party for 3 the transaction. 4 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION ON SITE COMMISSIONS.—A 5 provider of confinement facility communications 6 services may not assess a site commission. 7 ‘‘(6) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.—A State 8 or political subdivision of a State may not enforce 9 any law, rule, regulation, standard, or other provi- 10 sion having the force or effect of law relating to con- 11 finement facility communications services that allows 12 for higher rates or other charges to be assessed for 13 such services than is permitted under any Federal 14 law or regulation relating to confinement facility 15 communications services. 16 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 17 ‘‘(A) ANCILLARY SERVICE CHARGE.—The 18 term ‘ancillary service charge’ means any 19 charge a consumer may be assessed for the set- 20 ting up or use of a confinement facility commu- 21 nications service that is not included in the per- 22 minute charges assessed for individual commu- 23 nications. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6389 IH ‘‘(B) AUTOMATED PAYMENT FEE.—The 1 term ‘automated payment fee’ means a credit 2 card payment, debit card payment, or bill proc- 3 essing fee, including a fee for a payment made 4 by means of interactive voice response, the 5 internet, or a kiosk. 6 ‘‘(C) COLLECT CALLING.—The term ‘col- 7 lect calling’ means an arrangement whereby a 8 credit-qualified party agrees to pay for charges 9 associated with a communication made to such 10 party using confinement facility communica- 11 tions services and originating from within a 12 confinement facility. 13 ‘‘(D) CONFINEMENT FACILITY.—The term 14 ‘confinement facility’— 15 ‘‘(i) means a jail or a prison; and 16 ‘‘(ii) includes any juvenile, detention, 17 work release, or mental health facility that 18 is used primarily to hold individuals who 19 are— 20 ‘‘(I) awaiting adjudication of 21 criminal charges or an immigration 22 matter; or 23 ‘‘(II) serving a sentence for a 24 criminal conviction. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6389 IH ‘‘(E) CONFINEMENT FACILITY COMMU- 1 NICATIONS SERVICE.—The term ‘confinement 2 facility communications service’ means a service 3 that allows incarcerated persons to make elec- 4 tronic communications (whether intrastate, 5 interstate, or international and whether made 6 using video, audio, or any other communicative 7 method, including advanced communications 8 services) to individuals outside the confinement 9 facility, or to individuals inside the confinement 10 facility, where the incarcerated person is being 11 held, regardless of the technology used to de- 12 liver the service. 13 ‘‘(F) CONSUMER.—The term ‘consumer’ 14 means the party paying a provider of confine- 15 ment facility communications services. 16 ‘‘(G) DEBIT CALLING.—The term ‘debit 17 calling’ means a presubscription or comparable 18 service which allows an incarcerated person, or 19 someone acting on an incarcerated person’s be- 20 half, to fund an account set up through a pro- 21 vider that can be used to pay for confinement 22 facility communications services originated by 23 the incarcerated person. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6389 IH ‘‘(H) FEE FOR SINGLE-CALL AND RE- 1 LATED SERVICES.—The term ‘fee for single-call 2 and related services’ means a billing arrange- 3 ment whereby communications made by an in- 4 carcerated person using collect calling are billed 5 through a third party on a per-communication 6 basis, where the recipient does not have an ac- 7 count with the provider of confinement facility 8 communications services. 9 ‘‘(I) INCARCERATED PERSON.—The term 10 ‘incarcerated person’ means a person detained 11 at a confinement facility, regardless of the du- 12 ration of the detention. 13 ‘‘(J) JAIL.—The term ‘jail’— 14 ‘‘(i) means a facility of a law enforce- 15 ment agency of the Federal Government or 16 of a State or political subdivision of a 17 State that is used primarily to hold indi- 18 viduals who are— 19 ‘‘(I) awaiting adjudication of 20 criminal charges; 21 ‘‘(II) post-conviction and com- 22 mitted to confinement for sentences of 23 one year or less; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6389 IH ‘‘(III) post-conviction and await- 1 ing transfer to another facility; and 2 ‘‘(ii) includes— 3 ‘‘(I) city, county, or regional fa- 4 cilities that have contracted with a 5 private company to manage day-to- 6 day operations; 7 ‘‘(II) privately-owned and oper- 8 ated facilities primarily engaged in 9 housing city, county, or regional in- 10 carcerated persons; and 11 ‘‘(III) facilities used to detain in- 12 dividuals pursuant to a contract with 13 U.S. Immigration and Customs En- 14 forcement. 15 ‘‘(K) LIVE AGENT FEE.—The term ‘live 16 agent fee’ means a fee associated with the op- 17 tional use of a live operator to complete a con- 18 finement facility communications service trans- 19 action. 20 ‘‘(L) PAPER BILL OR STATEMENT FEE.— 21 The term ‘paper bill or statement fee’ means a 22 fee associated with providing a consumer an op- 23 tional paper billing statement. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6389.IH H6389 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 6389 IH ‘‘(M) PER-COMMUNICATION OR PER-CON- 1 NECTION CHARGE.—The term ‘per-communica- 2 tion or per-connection charge’ means a one-time 3 fee charged to a consumer at the initiation of 4 a communication. 5 ‘‘(N) PREPAID CALLING.—The term ‘pre- 6 paid calling’ means a calling arrangement that 7 allows a consumer to pay in advance for a spec- 8 ified amoun [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]