August	
  30,	
  2012	
  
	
  
Marlene	
  H.	
  Dortch,	
  Secretary	
  
Federal	
  Communications	
  Commission	
  
445	
  12th	
  Street,	
  S.W.,	
  TW-­‐A325	
  
Washington,	
  D.C.	
  20554	
  
	
  
Re:	
  	
  Docket	
  No.	
  96-­‐128	
  
	
  
Dear	
  Ms.	
  Dortch:	
  
	
  
An	
  August	
  14,	
  a	
  delegation	
  of	
  organizations	
  from	
  Charleston	
  met	
  with	
  Senator	
  Jay	
  Rockefeller’s	
  staff	
  to	
  discuss	
  
the	
  high	
  cost	
  of	
  receiving	
  a	
  phone	
  call	
  from	
  a	
  prison,	
  jail	
  or	
  detention	
  center.	
  	
  This	
  visit	
  was	
  held	
  as	
  part	
  of	
  a	
  
larger	
  effort	
  called	
  the	
  Campaign	
  for	
  Prison	
  Phone	
  Justice,	
  a	
  national	
  campaign	
  seeking	
  to	
  lower	
  the	
  cost	
  of	
  
prison	
  phone	
  calls.	
  	
  Organizations	
  in	
  the	
  delegation	
  included	
  Advocare,	
  Citizens	
  United	
  for	
  Rehabilitation	
  
(CURE),	
  West	
  Virginia	
  Record,	
  and	
  Senior	
  Legal	
  Aid.	
  	
  	
  
	
  
The	
  delegation	
  petitioned	
  Senator	
  Rockefeller	
  to	
  send	
  a	
  letter	
  to	
  FCC	
  Chairman	
  Julius	
  Genachowski	
  in	
  support	
  
of	
  the	
  Wright	
  Petition	
  (Docket	
  No.	
  96-­‐128),	
  a	
  measure	
  that	
  would	
  make	
  the	
  cost	
  of	
  long	
  distance	
  phone	
  calls	
  
from	
  prisons	
  more	
  affordable.	
  
	
  
During	
  the	
  meeting,	
  members	
  of	
  the	
  delegation	
  shared	
  stories	
  of	
  the	
  repercussions	
  of	
  high	
  prison	
  phone	
  calls.	
  
Keith	
  DeBlasio,	
  Executive	
  Director	
  of	
  Advocare,	
  shared	
  how	
  his	
  mother	
  paid	
  15	
  -­‐	
  30	
  dollars	
  for	
  a	
  15-­‐minute	
  
phone	
  call	
  with	
  him	
  and	
  the	
  costs	
  were	
  so	
  high,	
  she	
  had	
  to	
  sleep	
  in	
  her	
  van	
  when	
  coming	
  to	
  visit	
  him.	
  	
  	
  	
  
	
  
These	
  groups	
  posit	
  the	
  FCC-­‐-­‐as	
  the	
  only	
  agency	
  with	
  jurisdiction	
  over	
  long	
  distance	
  rates-­‐-­‐is	
  the	
  
correct	
  venue	
  to	
  resolve	
  this	
  problem.	
  On	
  behalf	
  of	
  these	
  groups	
  we	
  request	
  federal	
  oversight	
  of	
  interstate	
  
Prison	
  phone	
  call	
  rates.	
  
	
  
Respectfully	
  submitted,	
  

amalia	
  deloney	
  
Associate	
  Director