Update on NSA’s Efforts Regarding the FCC’s Martha Wright-Reed Implementation Order
In July 2024, the FCC issued the Martha Wright-Reed Implementation Order, which significantly impacts communication services for incarcerated individuals. Among other things, the Order:
1. Prohibits site commissions paid to jails, and requires them to be renegotiated out of communications contracts
2. Prohibits communications revenue (even if not a site commission) from being paid to jails to cover costs for major safety and security costs, such as communications monitoring, communications recording, and voice biometrics, or well as educational programs and re-entry initiative
To address these concerns, NSA is actively working on three fronts:
1. A Petition for Review in the Court of Appeals (First Circuit).
2. A Petition for Reconsideration with the FCC.
3. Participation in the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) process at the FCC.
