Washington Informer

Mignon Clyburn Says Rates Are Unfair To Inmates and Families

Mignon Clyburn, a veteran policymaker from the Public Service Commission of South Carolina, has been appointed acting chair of the Federal Communications Commission, the first woman to ever hold the post.

Since joining the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2009, Clyburn remains a leader in the fight to reduce telephone rates for prison inmates throughout the country and, in her first interview since being appointed by President Barack Obama to her new post, she vows to continue that battle.

"Tens of thousands of consumers have written, emailed, and telephoned the Federal Communications Commission, pleading for relief on interstate long distance rates from correctional facilities and I intend to keep pushing this issue," said Clyburn, 51.

Clyburn said that she could not discuss details regarding her recent appointment, which was announced on May 1.

However, the second-term FCC commissioner is miffed that rates make it cheaper to place a cellular telephone call from as far away as Singapore than it is for an inmate to make an interstate collect call from prisons in the United States.

According to data from various telephone companies, including Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint, the average cost of a call to Singapore is 12 cents per minute, while a call from prison includes a $3.95 connection fee regardless of the length of the conversation.

"One five-minute call from prison could be as high as $17 with the connection fee and the per minute rate can be as high as 89 cents," Clyburn said. "That framework can be as high as your regular monthly phone bill. We're talking a significant amount of money for those who are least likely to be able to afford that type of engagement. All of this has motivated me to keep this fight going," she said.

Clyburn, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Banking, Finance and Economics from the University of South Carolina, served as chair of South Carolina's Public Service Commission from 2002 to 2004.

While Clyburn has made her mark in the public sector, she remains proud of her background in media – that's where she learned to speak truth to power.

"It was on an African-American newspaper, the Coastal Times, in South Carolina," she said. Clyburn co-owned and operated the newspaper with her father, Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), the former House majority whip and the current Assistant Democratic Leader.

Clyburn said she will continue to pressure regulators to find more affordable solutions and rates for inmates and their families.

Two private companies own the service that operate all prison phone calls in the country, Global Tel*Link Corp. of Mobile, Ala., and Securus Technologies, Inc. of Dallas, Texas. A spokeswoman at Global Tel*Link and a secretary at Securus each declined comment.

Officials from both companies have previously said during a conference in New York last year that the higher rates are due to the security features their technology provides, such as monitoring phone calls and blocking numbers.

"But, technology is readily available and not something that should translate to $15 for a 15-minute phone call," said Steven Renderos, national organizer for the Center for Media Justice in Oakland, Calif.

Rates for the calls widely vary from state-to-state, but the commissions received by the phone companies and prisons are high, Renderos said.

"For example, in Alabama the commission rate is 61.5 percent, and this translates to families having to pay 89 cents a minute on top of the $3.95 connection fee every time a family member receives a call," said Renderos.

"Eight states, California, South Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Michigan, and Missouri, have banned these commissions and in those states, you see some of the lowest rates for phone calls," he said.

The District of Columbia prohibits any surcharge, commission, or other financial imposition on prisoners' phone calls beyond legally established phone rates, which are limited to the maximum rate determined by the District's Public Service Commission, agency officials said.

Clyburn, who in 2001 began work to reduce the rates and recruited Jesse Jackson's Operation Push to assist, said the telephone is a crucial instrument for the incarcerated, and those who care about them, because telephone usage is often the only communications option available.

"Maintaining contact with family and friends during incarceration not only helps the inmate, but it is beneficial to our society as a whole because there are well over two million children with at least one parent behind bars and regardless of their circumstances, both children and parents gain from regular contact with one another," said Clyburn.

A major hurdle in the battle to reduce the call rates is the "Almighty dollar," officials at the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) said. Last week, representatives from the CBC also signed on to help Clyburn fight the exorbitant costs of prison calls.

The phone market in state prison systems is worth more than $362 million annually. Payments to governments in return for exclusive phone contracts account for an estimated 42 percent nationwide, or $152 million per year, according to a 2011 report published by Prison Legal News.

Also, while telephone companies sometimes provide reduced rates for evening and nighttime calls, many prisoners don't have the luxury of scheduling phone calls during those time periods.

When Louisiana issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for prison phone services in 2001, it specified that the maximum points should be awarded to the bidder who bids the highest percentage of compensation. It also stated a desire that the bidder's compensation percentages be "as high as possible," the study stated.

When the Alaska Department of Corrections issued an RFP in 2007, bidders were rated on a point system with 60 percent of the evaluation points assigned to cost.

Some of America's prisons are privately owned and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), meaning that they are for-profit businesses and pay dividends to shareholders. Cornell Companies Inc. (whose NYSE symbol is CRN), Corrections Corp. of America (CXW) and Geo Group Inc. (GEO), are the three companies that own prisons in the U.S.

Cornell, which operates in 15 states and the District of Columbia, is currently trading at $29.45 a share. Stock for Corrections Corp., the largest owner of partnership correction and detention facilities and one of the largest prison operators in the United States, is trading at $37.07. Located in Boca Raton, Fla., the Geo Group is trading at $37.92 a share and the company is expected to release its first quarter financials on May 9.

"I'm optimistic on a number of fronts," Clyburn said. "Our office has constantly ensured that this process of reducing the rates is one that is dynamic and moving forward," she said.

"The more people who are aware of what's going on, the better because there isn't anyone, myself included, who hasn't had this type of engagement. We all know or are related to someone who has been or is currently incarcerated and a lot of people still don't realize how significant of an economic impact this has on poor families."

With an already anemic representation of women and people of color in media ownership, civil rights organizations are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to delay its decision to lift media ownership limits.

In a Nov. 28 teleconference involving a mix of affected groups, Free Press president Craig Aaron said his organization would pursue legal action against the FCC if its commissioners approve the draft order that would repeal the ban on media consolidation without first examining how it would impact diversity.

The non-white stake in TV station ownership is 3.6 percent while women owners account for 7 percent, representation Aaron called a "travesty." He urged, "The study must come first – not after the rules have already been changed." Free Press and others have sued the FCC in the past for trying to enact similar changes.

The draft order presented by the FCC and its chairman Julius Genachowski would do away with the newspaper-radio cross-ownership ban altogether and allow television-newspaper cross-ownership in the top 20 markets.

Free Press and civil rights activists fear that consolidating markets will shrink even further the representation of Latinos, blacks and other people of color, arguing the change will raise the barriers to entry and makes it difficult for new owners to get in the market.

"When too few people own too much media, it is unhealthy," Rev. Jesse Jackson said on the teleconference call.

Paul Boyle, senior vice president of public policy at Newspaper Association of America, said his organization is in favor of repealing the ban that has been in place since 1975 because it would "track investments from a plethora of potential investors that can provide the resources to sustain local journalism."

"It was put into place when there were only three networks and when newspapers were a major voice in their community. Now you have a variety of outlets, all competing voices and fighting for advertising.

The FCC has not recalibrated this rule to reflect the changes in the media market place."

Boyle took issue with the premise held by some civil rights organizations, saying their fears and the reality of the changing media landscape are two separate matters.

"During the ban, there was nothing stopping a minority-owned business or investor from buying a newspaper. I take issue with the premise that somehow lifting the ban will keep minorities from buying a local newspaper. Civic-minded leaders can invest if they want their voices heard," Boyle said.

Mandated by Congress, the FCC is expected to review the ban as part of its quadrennial review, which is two years behind schedule.

An FCC official told Hispanic Link that the commission's draft media ownership order includes "a comprehensive analysis of viewpoint diversity based on an extensive record developed over the last three years, including six public hearings held across the country; two rounds of public comment, and 11 economic studies that were competitively bid, subject to peer review, and publicly released."

Even still, Alex Nogales, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, countered that the FCC hasn't conducted the proper studies showing how Hispanics and people of color would be affected.

"We are asking the FCC to hold off on making the decision on going forward and consolidating newspapers and other media," he said. "You haven't explored the ramifications of what is going to be if people of color don't have a voice."

Luis Carlos López is a contributing columnist with Hispanic Link News Service. Reach him at, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .