People incarcerated at the Orleans Parish Justice Center line up during a mock evacuation drill on June 15, 2023. (Nigell Moses/Verite)
The Louisiana Public Service Commission reviewed the rates that prisons and jails charge inmates to make phone calls, following a directive from the Federal Communications Commission earlier this year mandating lower fees than are currently charged at Louisiana state prisons and most jails.
At the meeting, held Wednesday in Baton Rouge, commissioners heard testimony from both prison and jail telecommunications companies and advocates pushing for free calls.
Wednesday’s discussion was strictly informational. The commission — which regulates utilities, including telecommunications companies, around the state — took no vote on whether to mandate lower rates, and commissioners have not said if or when such a vote will happen. Meanwhile, the new fee caps are facing legal challenges, including from Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill , who filed a federal lawsuit, along with Texas and Mississippi, seeking to overturn the FCC decision.