A recent FCC ruling will soon lower Michigan prisoner phone calls from $0.21-0.23 per minute to a cap of $0.11 per minute, including most ancillary fees.
Michigan used to have a $0.10 per minute rate and the cost for calls went up when prison officials and lawmakers decided that raising the cost of phone calls (a burden borne mostly by the families or prisoners) could fill a gap in the already enormous $2 billion Corrections budget. The State of Michigan already appealed the last FCC rate change in court, and I fully expect a challenge to this ruling too.
Prisoners and their families are a golden egg laying goose to the government, and protecting that income, made mostly off the backs of struggling families of prisoners, is a top priority for prison officials.
Fortunately, advocacy organizations like MI-Cure and CAPPS are making headway in shedding light on the need for cheaper phone rates so families can stay connected to their loved ones.
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