Digital Inclusion

FCC Urges Court to Pause Prison Phone Case as Agency Changes Rules

Attorneys for the agency decline to defend prior ban on commissions to correctional facilities.

Jericho Casper

Jericho Casper

— 4 min read
FCC Urges Court to Pause Prison Phone Case as Agency Changes Rules
Photo of Kelsey Smith, Deputy Solicitor General in the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, from LinkedIn.

Oct. 7, 2025 – A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit wrestled Tuesday with how to define the security costs “necessary” to provide phone and video service in prisons.

On the same day that the Federal Communications Commission issued a new set of regulations taking a different approach to implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Act, the agency declined in court to defend the rules promulgated by the agency under the prior administration. 

And yet, under questioning from a judge, an attorney for the FCC said the agency would - for now - enforce a rule that it wouldn’t defend in court.

Post tagged in
Digital Inclusion First Circuit Bradley Craigmyle Martha Wright-Reed Act Securus v. FCC Securus Technologies Jeffrey Howard David Barron Lara Montecalvo Kelsey Smith Arjun Ramamurti Scott Angstreich DARE

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