It’s difficult to pass any legislation in Congress during America’s current state of political division, let alone pass something with no opposition. That’s one reason why the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communication Act is worth celebrating. The law, sponsored by Sen.
Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and co-sponsored by former Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, gave authority to the Federal Communications Commission to set rate caps for phone calls that prison inmates make or receive from relatives and other people.
The companies that control those phone calls — such as Securus Technologies — have historically made massive profits off the multibillion-dollar privatization of prison services. Martha Wright-Reed was a blind grandmother who couldn’t write letters or visit her grandson thousands of miles away in a federal prison. She fought for a decade to reduce the fees charged for people to connect with loved ones in prison.
It’s a public safety issue, Wright-Reed argued. Lawmakers in both parties agreed, realizing that taking away vital connections, and exacerbating the financial hardships of prisoners and their families, would increase recidivism and make communities less safe. In 2023, the bill passed in the Senate with unanimous consent, meaning not a single senator opposed it — not even Missouri Republicans Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt — who oppose nearly everything that has passed during the Biden administration.
The bill similarly passed the House with a v.
