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FCC Releases Final Version of Order Gutting 2024 Phone Cap Regulations

Article • February 1, 2026 • from PLN February, 2026

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

FCC Releases Final Version of Order Gutting 2024 Phone Cap Regulations by Michael Thompson   by Michael Thompson   As reported in PLN, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had postponed a 2024 rule poised to reduce the financial burden for incarcerated people throughout the country. [See: PLN, Aug. 2025, p. …

An AI Model from Securus Aims to Expand Phone Call Monitoring

Article • December 1, 2025 • from PLN December, 2025

Filed under: Databases, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring, Electronic Surveillance, Securus

An AI Model from Securus Aims to Expand Phone Call Monitoring by In 2023, prison telecom company Securus Technologies began building AI tools using its expansive database of prisoners’ recorded phone calls. The idea was to create an AI model that could not only monitor live prison phone calls but …

The Succession Battle for a Prison Empire

Article • December 1, 2025 • from PLN December, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors

The Succession Battle for a Prison Empire by Katya Schwenk by Katya Schwenk The yacht is moored at the mouth of the Miami River, in the long shadows of the city’s luxury hotels and high-rises. It is of Italian design: sleek, imposing, with a flybridge and sundeck and five cabins, …

Colorado Children Sue County Jail to Fight Visitation Ban

Article • December 1, 2025 • from PLN December, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Video Visitation, Children of Prisoners, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Private Phone Contractors

Colorado Children Sue County Jail to Fight Visitation Ban by For years, the Adams County Detention Facility in Brighton has prohibited in-person visits. But in late October 2025, a group of three children—with the youngest just four years—are suing the Adams County Sheriff and HomeWAV, a telecommunications company, in hopes …

FCC Votes For Dramatic Hike to Prison Phone Call Rates

Article • November 1, 2025 • from PLN November, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring, Cell Phone Access, Video Visitation, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

;no other choice but to revert to 1980s-style supervised public pay telephones.” It wasn’t explained how that is bad for the detainees; a 15-minute local call on most payphones runs far less than ...

FCC Issues Proposed Rule Permitting Cellphone Jammers in Prisons and Jails

Article • November 1, 2025 • from PLN November, 2025

Filed under: Statistics/Trends, Telephone Rates, Cell Phone Access, Federal Legislation, Police State-Surveillance

FCC Issues Proposed Rule Permitting Cellphone Jammers in Prisons and Jails by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted on September 30, 2025, to issue a Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to relax the current ban on using cellphone “jamming” technology in prisons and jails. …

Albert v. GLOBAL TELLINK CORP, MD, Memorandum Opinion, Telephone Rates, 2025

Brief • October 15, 2025

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Telephones, Telephone Rates, Antitrust Offenses, Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing, etc., Kickback Scheme, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

Albert v. GLOBAL TELLINK CORP, MD, Memorandum Opinion, Telephone Rates, 2025 Case 8:20-cv-01936-LKG Document 487 Filed 10/15/25 Page 1 of 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT ...

FCC Backtracks on 2024 Order to Cut  Prison Phone and Video Rates by Half

Article • August 1, 2025 • from PLN August, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Video Visitation, Private Phone Contractors, Securus

FCC Backtracks on 2024 Order to Cut Prison Phone and Video Rates by Half by On June 30, the Federal Communications Commission announced a two-year postponement of a rule to lower the price of phone and video calls in prisons and jails. As PLN reported, the FCC voted in 2024 …

HRDC Collaborates on Prison Telecom Cost Report  to Washington Lawmakers

Article • August 1, 2025 • from PLN August, 2025

Filed under: Electronic Tablets, Telephone Access, Telephone Rates

HRDC Collaborates on Prison Telecom Cost Report to Washington Lawmakers by Chuck Sharman A report on prison telecom costs presented to state lawmakers in Washington on December 13, 2024, showed dramatic decreases nationwide in the price of calls from prisons and jails over the past decade. A similar drop was …

JPay Loses Bid to Revoke Class Certification in Washington Prisoners’ Challenge to Crummy Products and Service

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Electronic Tablets, Computers, Telephone Rates, Securus

JPay Loses Bid to Revoke Class Certification in Washington Prisoners’ Challenge to Crummy Products and Service by Over five years ago, in May 2020, Washington prisoners Michael Linear and Lonnie Burton filed a complaint in state court against prison telecom JPay LLC, which held the exclusive contract with the state …

Free Calls in Massachusetts Lead to  Defunded Prison Programs

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Access, Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors

Free Calls in Massachusetts Lead to Defunded Prison Programs by In December 2023, Massachusetts became the fifth state to provide free phone calls in its prisons and the first in all local jails. Video calling and e-messaging were also made available at no cost [See: PLN, Mar. 2024, p. 15]. …

Albert v. Global Tellink Corp, MD, Memorandum Opinion and Order, Telephone Rates, 2025

Brief • June 13, 2025

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Telephones, Telephone Rates, Antitrust Offenses, Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing, etc., Kickback Scheme, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

Albert v. Global Tellink Corp, MD, Memorandum Opinion and Order, Telephone Rates, 2025 Case 8:20-cv-01936-LKG Document 439 Filed 06/13/25 Page 1 of 17 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT ...

GTL/ViaPath Ordered to Pay $3 Million for Violations  of Consumer Protection Laws

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing, etc., Global Tel*Link Corp

GTL/ViaPath Ordered to Pay $3 Million for Violations of Consumer Protection Laws by Global Tel*Link (GTL), doing business as ViaPath Technologies, is one of the nation’s largest providers of carceral communications services, including phones, video calling, and e-messaging. Its subsidiaries include Telmate, LLC and TouchPay Holdings, LLC; the latter provides …

GTL, Co-Defendant Agree to $21.3 Million Settlement with HRDC in Price-Fixing Lawsuit

Article • April 1, 2025 • from PLN April, 2025

Filed under: Settlements, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephone Rates, HRDC Litigation, Global Tel*Link Corp

GTL, Co-Defendant Agree to $21.3 Million Settlement with HRDC in Price-Fixing Lawsuit by On October 31, 2024, preliminary approval was granted to a settlement reached with the second of three prison telecom giants accused of illegal price-fixing. The suit was filed in June 2020 in United States District Court for …

Albert v. GLOBAL TELLINK CORP, MD, Memorandum Opinion and Order, Telephone Rates, 2025

Brief • April 1, 2025

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Telephones, Telephone Rates, Antitrust Offenses, Bid-Rigging, Price-Fixing, etc., Kickback Scheme, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

Albert v. GLOBAL TELLINK CORP, MD, Memorandum Opinion and Order, Telephone Rates, 2025 Case 8:20-cv-01936-LKG Document 492 Filed 10/31/25 Page 1 of 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT ...

Pay-for-Play Tablets: The Costly New Prison Paradigm

Article • March 1, 2025 • from PLN March, 2025

Filed under: Food/Commissary (Private Prisons), Electronic Tablets, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Telephone Rates, Tapes/Music, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

with their incarcerated loved ones? The NASPO master agreement specifies that phone calls made by prisoners (excluding attorney calls) shall be recorded and stored for the life of the contract, with call record details ...

First Circuit Rejects Request by Securus and Pay Tel to Stay FCC Prison Phone Rate Caps

Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Private Phone Contractors, Securus

First Circuit Rejects Request by Securus and Pay Tel to Stay FCC Prison Phone Rate Caps by On November 18, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued two orders denying motions filed by Securus Technologies, LLC, and Pay Tel Communications, Inc., seeking to stay implementation …

Securus/JPay Video Calling Service Potentially Threatened by New Rate Caps

Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025

Filed under: JPay, Inc., Telephone Rates, Video Visitation, Securus

Securus/JPay Video Calling Service Potentially Threatened by New Rate Caps by On November 19, 2024, prison telecom Securus Technologies, Inc., along with subsidiary JPay, notified users of services provided by the firms at prisons and jails of steps being taken to comply with a recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order. …

Eighth Circuit Asked to Block New FCC Rules Capping Prison Phone Rates and Eliminating Ancillary Fees and Kickbacks

Article • November 15, 2024 • from PLN November, 2024

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Federal Funds

Eighth Circuit Asked to Block New FCC Rules Capping Prison Phone Rates and Eliminating Ancillary Fees and Kickbacks by In a petition filed on September 30, 2024, the Republican Attorneys General of 14 states asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to block new rate caps on …

FCC Slashes Prison and Jail Phone Rates, Caps Video Call Cost, Eliminates “Site Commission” Kickbacks

Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Video Visitation, Federal Funds, Private Phone Contractors, Securus, Global Tel*Link Corp

the primary means of contacting family members and friends remains the landline telephone—technology that dates back to Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the first telephone in 1876. Until fairly ...