Inmate Advocates, FCC and DOJ Ask Court to Keep Freeze on ICS Recon Case; Others Disagree
Inmate family advocates and the DOJ and FCC said a court should continue to delay consideration of an industry challenge to a 2016 commission order that revised inmate calling service (ICS) rates set the previous year. The Wright Petitioners said…
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they are planning by July 28 to petition for rehearing of a related U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling reversing key ICS rate decisions in a 2015 FCC order in Global Tel*Link v. FCC, No. 15-1461 (see 1706130047). The D.C. Circuit should thus continue to hold in abeyance its review of a challenge to the commission's 2016 ICS reconsideration order, said a Wright Petitioners' filing (in Pacer) Friday in Securus Technologies v. FCC, No. 16-1321. If the rehearing petition is filed on GlobalTel*Link, the Securus case should continue to be held in abeyance until the rehearing petition is resolved, agreed a joint DOJ and FCC filing (in Pacer) Thursday. But Securus, Global Tel*Link, Telmate and CenturyLink (here in Pacer), Pay Tel Communications (here in Pacer) and state and local entities (here in Pacer) said the court should vacate the recon order and remand it to the FCC. The ICS providers asked that a court stay of the order remain in place while the commission considers issues on remand. Meanwhile, a Wright Petitioners filing in FCC docket 17-126 disputed arguments in a recent filing by Securus and SCRS Acquisition defending the planned sale of Securus to SCRS. The Wright Petitioners also criticized the parties' procedural handling of filings, given their requests for both domestic and international service FCC approvals.