FCC’s Order Raising Inmate Call Rates Faces Federal Court Appeals

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2025 – The Federal Communications Commission’s latest reset of inmate calling rules faces new challenges in federal courts.

The Pennsylvania Prison Society petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Wednesday to review and overturn the FCC’s latest inmate calling order. 

At least two other organizations, Direct Action for Rights and Equality and the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, also sued the agency over the order. DARE sued in the D.C. Circuit and UCC Media Justice sued in the First Circuit. They asked judges to find some or all of the order was unlawful and remand it back to the FCC.

The petitioners challenged orders the FCC adopted in October to govern incarcerated people’s communications services.

The FCC’s orders revised rate setting methodologies for prison and jail phone and video calls set in 2024 under former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, and also pushed compliance deadlines to as far out as April 2027.

Petitioners contend the FCC’s reconsideration order was “arbitrary and capricious” and undermines core statutory requirements that rates for incarcerated people’s communications be “just and reasonable.”

The groups also argued the FCC improperly denied its request to overturn a staff issued waiver that delayed implementation of the 2024 IPCS rules while adjustments were made.

The Pennsylvania Prison Society asked the Third Circuit to transfer the case to the First Circuit or otherwise ensure the record is consolidated there, rather than triggering the random panel selection process that applies when multiple petitions are filed in different circuits.

Substantively, the Pennsylvania Prison Society takes aim at several changes adopted by the FCC. The group alleged the commission granted an industry petition to exclude unbilled minutes from rate cap calculations, revised its treatment of safety and security costs, and created a new “extremely small jail” category for facilities with fewer than 50 people on average.

Those changes resulted in higher interim per-minute caps for both audio and video calls at many facilities. Advocates for incarcerated people have warned that higher rates will fall hardest on families with limited means and could undermine the public safety and reentry benefits Congress sought to promote when it passed the Martha Wright-Reed Act. 

In the appeal, the Pennsylvania Prison Society says excessive calling rates have historically impeded its ability to communicate with incarcerated people through its helpline and to support families during incarceration.

FCC said reconsideration was necessary

The FCC, for its part, has said the reconsideration order was necessary to address unintended consequences of the 2024 rules, including safety and security risks and financial strains that providers and correctional facilities said threatened the continued availability of service.

Petitioners have asked the court to vacate the reconsideration order, compel the FCC to promptly implement the 2024 rules, and grant any additional relief the court deems appropriate.

First Circuit weighs impact of FCC reconsideration

In a related matter, the First Circuit signaled that the FCC’s 2025 reconsideration order could moot some issues in DARE v. FCC – the case in which the nonprofit Direct Action for Rights and Equality is challenging the FCC’s 2024 rules on inmate communications services.

On Thursday, First Circuit judges ordered all parties to file supplemental briefs addressing whether the FCC’s newly adopted order, published Dec. 5, moots any issues on appeal and how it otherwise bears on the pending challenges. 

The court set a staggered briefing schedule stretching into early 2026.

Editor's Note: This article has been modified to mention other groups that sued over the FCC's order.