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A new study shows health disparities cost Texas billions of dollars; Senate rejects impeachment articles against Mayorkas, ending trial against Cabinet secretary; Iowa cuts historical rural school groups.

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The Senate dismisses the Mayorkas impeachment. Maryland Lawmakers fail to increase voting access. Texas Democrats call for better Black maternal health. And polling confirms strong support for access to reproductive care, including abortion.

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Rural Wyoming needs more vocational teachers to sustain its workforce pipeline, Ohio environmental advocates fear harm from a proposal to open 40-thousand forest acres to fracking and rural communities build bike trail systems to promote nature, boost the economy.

Jail Break? FCC Moves on Prison Phone Call Gouging

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Thursday, January 3, 2013   

PHOENIX, Ariz. - In a move announced at the very end of the year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken a step toward examining the high prices families pay to stay in touch by phone with loved ones behind bars. In announcing a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, the FCC has finally responded to an effort of more than 10 years urging the agency to look into prison telephone service contracts.

Steven Renderos, a national organizer with the Media Action Grassroots Network, is following the issue. He calls the step forward "great."

"The real victims of the high cost of these phone calls are the families that have to pay the phone bills. It's not the inmates themselves; it's the families that end up paying the phone bills."

He says telephone contact is part of the family and community support that fights recidivism. He and others credit stepped-up activism over the past year or so, which included support from the makers of a recent, well-reviewed film, "Middle of Nowhere," which dealt with the tribulations of prisoners' families. It was shown last fall in a special Washington, D.C., screening for FCC staff and commissioners.

The Commission was responding to a petition filed years ago on behalf of Martha Wright, a grandmother of a former prison inmate. One of her lawyers, Lee Petro with the firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, credits the breakthrough to pressure from public interest groups that included the screening of "Middle of Nowhere."

"A comprehensive showing from all different angles - from the right, from the conservative organizations, from the left, as well as showing the movie at the FCC - really put the pressure on the FCC and the FCC staff, to explain why there hadn't been action over the past 10 years."

Renderos says family contact with incarcerated loved ones is essential.

"The Federal Bureau of Prisons acknowledged themselves that phone calls play a very critical role in reducing recidivism. There's been countless studies done about the frequency and contact with families, and how that's necessary."

Petro says the FCC action - on the second-to-last working day of the year - came not a moment too soon.

"It's not going to hit the press like it would if it was before Christmas - but, quite honestly, we'll take what we can get. It gets the ball rolling."

Advocates say phone calls made from prisons can cost family members up to $20 for just 15 minutes. Now they will have to convince the FCC to come up with rules capping the onerous rates.




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