Trump’s FCC scraps ban on prison phone price gouging, a gift to some of his big donors

This story was originally published by Popular Information, a substack publication to which you can subscribe here.

The Federal Communications Commission will no longer enforce a rule capping the price of prison phone calls, according to an announcement made Monday by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.

The move suspends a 2024 FCC decision that capped the price of in-state phone calls at 6 cents minute for prisons and large jails and 7 cents per minute for medium-sized jails. Before the decision, a 15-minute phone call could cost as much as $11.35 at large jails in some states. Under the 2024 rules, those same phone calls would cost 90 cents.

This week’s FCC announcement states that the suspension of the 2024 rules will apply until April 1, 2027. But it also says that the FCC will use that time to consider making permanent changes to the rule. Carr claims that the 2024 rules, which started going into effect on January 1 on a staggered basis, are “leading to negative, unintended consequences.”

The 2024 FCC decision followed the passage of the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, which gave the FCC authority to regulate the price of in-state phone calls from prisons and jails. The legislation was named after Martha Wright-Reed, who spent two decades fighting for lower prices for prison phone calls as she struggled to afford spending over $100 per month to call her incarcerated grandson. At times, Wright-Reed had to skip medication payments and even cut back on groceries in order to afford the calls. In 2000, Wright-Reed sued CoreCivic, a private prison operator, arguing that the company’s exclusive contracts resulted in excessively high prices.

Monday’s statement was blasted by FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, who argued that not enforcing the 2024 rules violates the Martha Wright-Reed Act, as the law directed the FCC to “implement the statutory provisions not earlier than 18 months and not later than 24 months after the date of its enactment.” Gomez said that the FCC is making the “indefensible decision to ignore both the law and the will of Congress.”

Incarcerated people have said that the high cost forces them to choose between spending money on phone calls or purchasing personal hygiene items, or even shoes. One mother told CBS News in 2020 that she and her husband spent “$14,268 over the past two years” so that their incarcerated son could make phone calls. On top of the exorbitant per-minute rates, incarcerated people are charged additional fees, including as much as $4 to connect the call, which could be charged multiple times if the call drops.

In 2024, the FCC estimated that capping the price of phone and video calls “would save incarcerated people and their families, friends and legal teams about $386 million.” The Prison Policy Initiative estimated that the industry costs families of incarcerated people “nearly $1 billion a year.”

Studies have shown that visitation and phone calls from family decrease the chances that an incarcerated person will commit another crime.

So why is the FCC suddenly suspending the lowered price caps for prison phone calls? Follow the money.

The high cost of prison phone calls is a cash windfall for the private prison industry, which spent vast sums to help elect Trump president.

The companies that provide prison telephone services offer kickbacks, known as “commissions,” to prison operators to secure lucrative contracts. This means up to 50 percent of the money incarcerated people spend on telephone calls is routed back to the company or government that operates the prison. This system incentivizes prison operators to award contracts to companies that charge exorbitant fees, creating a larger pool of money for kickbacks.

For private prison companies like GEO Group and CoreCivic, kickbacks from telephone service providers are a lucrative revenue stream. How much money do these companies make from commissions? The industry no longer discloses those figures. But in 2012, according to SEC filings, the GEO Group made over $600,000 in site commissions from phone services. That figure is likely much higher today.

The FCC rule on phone rates would have ended this practice, banning kickbacks for prison operators. But, like the caps on phone charges, the kickback ban is now on hold.

During the 2024 campaign, GEO Group, through its PAC, was the first company to make the maximum contribution to Trump’s campaign. The same day, two top GEO Group executives, CEO Brian Evans and board chairman George Zoley, each donated $11,600 to the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee. Later, a GEO Group subsidiary, GEO Acquisition II, donated $1 million to Make America Great Again PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC. GEO Group used the subsidiary to evade a federal law that prohibits government contractors from making political donations. After Trump won, GEO Group and CoreCivic each donated $500,000 to Trump’s inauguration committee.

Both Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, and Attorney General Pam Bondi have previously been on the payroll of GEO Group. According to his federal financial disclosures, Homan received consulting fees from GEO Group in 2023 and 2024. Homan was not required to disclose the exact amount he was paid by the GEO Group, except that it was more than $5,000. Bondi worked as a lobbyist for GEO Group in 2019.

In the order delaying the rule, the FCC explicitly cited the “financial burdens” imposed on prison operators through inhibiting their ability to collect commissions. The FCC claims that, without the ability to receive commissions or charge high prices, many facilities would stop allowing incarcerated people to make phone calls. This conclusion is largely based on claims made to the FCC by the corporations profiting from the existing system.